


Ghostly Hauntings

by Valkenaar



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Beej is the best brother/uncle/friend, Beetlejuice and Lydia are not romantically involved, Beetlejuice returns, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Issues, Found Family, Gen, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, I'm not gonna promise a Beetlejuice/Adam/Barbara relationship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Redemption, Shenanigans, but I might hint at one, but it's really a mix or clash of the musical and cartoon, good-ish demon, musical verse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:13:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23925172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valkenaar/pseuds/Valkenaar
Summary: Lydia has been keeping a major secret from her family for an entire year, and the cat is let out of the bag in a very dramatic, weird, and unexpected way, and everyone involved is neither ready nor prepared for such a preternatural situation.
Relationships: Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz, Charles Deetz & Delia Deetz
Comments: 16
Kudos: 99





	1. Raveyard

The air that sweeps into the darkened bedroom is cold and crisp in a way that hurts. Winter is settling over the town turning the scheme of the environment into dark browns and greys and seeping away any of the fall greens and warm oranges. Lydia, dressed head to toe in two layers of clothing, can’t help but shiver as she shimmies her way out of her open window. The air bites at what little skin is exposed to the teenager as she gently lowers the window down. Exceedingly careful to not allow the frame to slam shut.

The moon is already far overhead, and the hour is just late enough for the rest of her family to be tucked away and sleeping, but not too late where she doesn’t have the rest of the night to enjoy herself. The young girl carefully makes her way down, praying the winter's wind hasn’t made the roof slippery. Unlike the events a year prior, Lydia would very much like to not impale herself on the birdbath. Tucked away in a corner between a wall and the tiles is a thick rope. Lydia grabs a hold of the slightly wet object and tosses it down to the ground. When the girl initially rigged this little getaway set up, she had to choose the perfect place that she could climb down without the Maitlands being able to see her from the attic's vantage point. The couple would often stay up far later than the living inhabitants of the home, more than likely losing track of time as they often did. 

If they see her, everything will be ruined, and Lydia has managed to withhold this secret for nearly a year. She can’t risk losing it now. So she very silently crawls over the edge of the roof and holds on tightly to the rope and slides neatly down in the long grass below her. She swiftly walks behind the house, and down the hill, on the patted pathway she uses often. Lydia eventually makes her way over to the sidewalk, her destination not being too far away from home. Only a street over. 

A victorian style house, much like her own, sits at a dead-end nearly fallen down from the dismay and rot that has seeped into its foundations. According to her classmates, this house has been abandoned for decades, the previous owners had disappeared one day without ever selling it. So it sits there, waiting until time and termites do away with it. 

The lock on the front door rusted off years ago, so Lydia only needs to push lightly to get inside. She heads for the center room of the building. Some sort of large dining room adjacent to, and quite frankly, a disgusting water flooded kitchen. The house in and of itself isn’t exactly what Lydia is after. As fond as the young woman is of the strange and unusual, she isn’t excited about potential black mold poisoning or falling through the floorboards to her death like her ghost parents. So she wastes no time in standing in the middle of the room, bracing herself for a very exciting moment. As it always is. 

Lydia takes in a nice long breath and says very clearly, “Beetlejuice.” 

The house is already creaking under the implication of that name. 

“ _ Beetlejuice _ .” Lydia chants again. The air is static, lifting the strands of her hair into the air as if someone had rubbed her head with a balloon. Lydia’s heart rate naturally increases with the weight of the atmosphere around her. Like the room itself is waiting in anticipation. 

“ **_Beetlejuice_ ** !”

There was a moment where everything let go, like a breath finally releasing from someone's lips. Then a cackle echoes around the young girl, gravelly and recognizable. She can’t help but laugh when the earth beneath her shakes away the reality that she once knew, and replaces the rotted and old wood of the house's floor into ash-grey stones. The walls stretch and cant sideways as a stone staircase wraps itself around the walls up to an angler wooden door that Lydia eagerly runs up too. 

The hinges swing open and a gruff looking man with wild green hair, wearing a moss-covered striped suit, bright yellow eyes, and a crooked sharp wide smile, laughs above her as she rushes into his arm, equally delighted to see the demon as he is to see her. 

“Hey, Lyds!” Beetlejuice exclaims loudly, dragging her small frame through the archway and into his home. His heeled foot slamming the door shut. He releases her and she backs up to sit on his dining table. “Took you long enough kid. Thought you’d forgotten about me.” 

“It's only been like four days dude,” Lydia replies. “Winter break just started so Delia and dad have been going nuts about decorating the house for our first Christmas. They’ve hardly let me have any time to myself at all.” 

Beetlejuice snorts at her and places his hands inside his pant pockets. “Christmas huh? It’s already been that long?” 

Lydia has been meeting up with Beetlejuice for nearly a year now. Morbid curiosity had her calling him back into the world of the living only about two months after the nightmarish events during the short time after her mother’s death. He was, surprisingly, doing well. Back then Lydia wasn’t sure what she expected. Maybe a disarrayed man, desperate to come back to have anyone to talk to, or maybe even angry. They hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms, but one thing Beetlejuice doesn’t do is hold grudges, as Lydia has found out after spending so much time with him. He was pretty happy to see her again if a bit confused and dazzled after being wanked out of the Netherworld without any proper warning. 

She had happened to summon him behind the schoolyard after classes, and the two just sat on the swings for a while. Lydia tried to make awkward conversation while Beeltjuice munched on some cicadas. Catching up, as if anything a few months prior had never happened. Back then Lydia thought she just wanted to satisfy her curiosity, but now she realizes a small part of her had missed Beetlejuice. They spent a few days together in her home, and she had never met someone so eccentric, wild, and funny as him. He was the first person or entity to manage to get her to laugh when she was in that awful headspace. He flowed like water, going with, and even supporting anything and everything she wanted to do. He listened to her when she complained and lashed out. He sang with her, danced with her, and played with her in a way she never had before. Just like a best friend, or even a brother in some ways. 

It was because of that that she could eventually forgive him, for everything he did. Yeah, she wasn’t entirely blameless either, and they had talked about it. It took a while but Lydia managed to squeeze out the truth from him. He was a pro at dodging the questions. When she slowly started summoning him more and more, the discussion was bound to happen. They both avoided it like the plague, afraid that whatever fragile relationship they had could be immediately shattered if the wrong thing was said. If someone got defensive or it brought up tender wounds. At least that was Lydia’s fear, but it turned out she had nothing to worry about. 

“I thought you were leaving me,” Beetlejuice said when he finally broke down and talked about what had happened, the roots of his hair vicariously teetering on the edge of purple. “I thought you just used me so you could get your mom back. I finally had someone to talk to that got me, and was fun to be around. Then it felt like you were throwing me to the side like kale salad.” 

“Beej, I didn’t mean to make you feel used. I was just so excited and determined to see her again. I never meant that I was leaving you for good.”

“Yeah, I know that now.” He groaned, embarrassed. “I’m just so used to people high tailing it as far away from me as possible. I didn’t really have any reason to think you wouldn’t do the same when I stopped being useful. I was just...so alone, for so long. I was appallingly desperate.”

“Yeah, you were.” Lydia didn’t even try to defend it. “The whole marriage thing, and nearly killing Barbara, and my dad.” 

“Yeah.” Beetlejuice hissed, unnervingly inhuman. “Sorry. I was a total gross asshole.” 

“Apology...accepted.” Lydia smiled watching Beetlejuice hang onto the long silence in between words like an eager child. “Also, I’m sorry about killing you.” Lydia eased out. 

“Don’t be!” Beetlejuice snorted. “It worked out better in the end anyway.”

“I guess I’m not really sorry for doing what I felt was right, but I’m sorry that I manipulated your feelings the way I did.” Beetlejuice eyed her for a long moment, Lydia staring straight into his slit pupils. Like a cat. He was biting his bottom lip, a habit Lydia had noticed when they first met. 

“I’m used to it anyway kiddo.” He ended up sighing. 

“You shouldn’t be,” Lydia muttered, making Beetlejuice smile softly at her.

After that, the pair only got closer and closer, until Lydia was hanging out with Beetlejuice nearly every day. He eventually suggested Lydia just start coming over to his place, as to not risk her family, or any other poor bastard, to catch sight of the demon. Lydia would be lying if she said that she wasn’t hesitant over his offer at first, but when Beetlejuice said  _ his  _ place he actually meant the entirety of the Netherworld and not just his small house nestled into a desert-like area of the underworld. Turns out saying his name three times in a row unbroken can also work in summoning a portal to the Netherworld as well as summoning the entity himself. The intent is what changes the terms. 

After Beetlejuice fed Juno to the sandworm, the afterlife got a little more relaxed and fun. A council of ghosts took over her position as an overseer, and every single one of them prays, to whatever god will listen, that Beetlejuice never gets interested in his mother's old job. Lucky for them Beetlejuice would rather be dissected alive than ever think about working behind a desk for the rest of his unlife. Besides, according to him, the council is in for a rude awakening for when his mother eventually reforms herself and barges right back through those doors. 

“Isn’t she dead?” Lydia had asked, very confused. 

“Nah.” Beetlejuice waved the idea off. “ She’s a demon. You can’t really kill us. Her energy is floating out there somewhere, and she’ll reform eventually. It’ll probably take millennia, but she’ll be back to her old bitchy self soon enough.”

The idea that Lydia will at least be long dead by the time Juno makes a return put her at ease, but the idea that Beetlejuice is eternally cursed to deal with his mother is upsetting in an entirely different way. Regardless, the Netherworld has been reformed into almost an unrecognizable place. Juno made sure the afterlife was as boring and lonely as she could manage, but under the new council, any newly dead would spend their time in the brand new city that vaguely mirrors the living ones. Sadly there isn’t much they can do for the ghosts that had already been sent off by Juno into their own purgatory. Teams have been put together to help try and migrate the ones they can find back into civilization, but there are millions of them, and the likelihood of getting to them all within the time Juno has to revive herself is slim.

Lydia couldn’t help but ask about her mom, but Beetlejuice was uncharismatically stern and honest about the chances. Lydia, according to him, had a better chance waiting for churches to donate all their money to charity than to see her mother again. It was upsetting, but Lydia had to let it go. So she did and figured out just how fun the Netherworld really could be. Beetlejuice had already managed to make himself notorious around the city. He would have something planned to do every time she visited. 

Pranking his neighbors by changing all their liquids into spiders, turning the streets into ultra-sticky fly trap paper so the cars and pedestrians would be stuck for hours, or forcing everyone into a giant city-wide mob dance to the song “We Speak No Americano”. To be fair that one at least ended up in everyone having fun in a world record party that lasted way into the next morning. Beetlejuice turned the streetlamps into strobe lights, the pavement on the street started glowing like enormous glow sticks, and all the buildings took on a bright luminosity like a neon sign you’d see on the streets of Las Vegas. He officially declared it a Raveyard, but PG-rated of course, because he had a kid with him. Just the memory of it has Lydia bouncing in anticipation of what they’ll do tonight. 

“So what do ya think babes?” Beetlejuice asked after Lydia didn’t answer his last question. “Downtown there is a new art gallery opening up for all the undead artists to have a place to put all their new works. I was thinking about sneaking in and replacing all the art with representations of  _ moi _ .” Beetlejuice exaggerates his idea by taking on the pose of the Birth of Venus complete with a materialized shell to stand in and random wind to blow his tall hair back. He at least has the decency to not actually be nude. 

Lydia giggles, while discarding the first layer of her clothes. The Netherworld is really neither cold nor warm. Even the sand outside Beetlejuice's front door hardly held enough heat to register on her skin, but the heavy knitted scarf and coat are making her sweat regardless. 

“Or.” Beetlejuice quickly adds. “There is a new club opening on forty-fifth street. It's supposed to be pretty lame and tame. Lots of rules so  _ everyone _ can have a safe and fun time." He jeers. It sounds more like a middle school dance to Lydia. 

“You? Being lame and tame?” Lydia questions with a smile. 

“I did think about spicing it up a bit, you know? Little dubstep here, some snow in the Kool-Aid there.” Beetlejuice said, patting off his jacket sleeve, a puff of white powder spritzing into the air around him. “Or we could get our Marina Abramovic groove on at the Gala.”

“Hmmm.” Lydia hums, hopping off the table and placing her hands on her hips. “I have a better idea.” Lydia leans up to Beeltjuice to whisper her little concocted plan into his pointy goblin-like ear.

“Oo ho!” He giggles. “I like your style kid!” 

* * *

“Beej we could really use some of your juice right now!” Lydia yells running down one of the many streets of the city, Beetlejuice levitating not too far behind her. She yelps as a bottle of acrylic paint fly past her head. 

Beetlejuice has positioned himself directly behind Lydia, taking many of the metaphorical bullets himself. He already has an easel leg jammed straight into his right frontal lobe, but that’s hardly deterring the roaring laughter and chortling coming from him. 

“Who knew these art freaks were so fussy?” He yelled after her. “They need to chill out!” Beetlejuice whips around in the air to face the mob and stomp his shoes onto the road, freezing the concrete under their feet, causing many a dead woman and man to slip onto their backs and stomachs. Their momentum skidding them all over the pavement and sidewalk. Cars got caught up in the ice and a few very irate drivers joined in throwing slurs Beetlejuice's way.

The demon heard Lydia cackle ahead of him, but when a paint knife whops him in the back of the head, splitting his vision into two he figured it was probably best to end the fun and get Lydia back home. He floats over to her and scoops her lithe frame into his arms and takes off higher into the air where the other ghosts couldn’t pitch any more art supplies at them. It’d take them a few minutes to gather their bearings, so It’ll give the duo just enough time to slip away. 

“Beetlejuice that was amazing!” Lydia cheered, arms flailing out around him. “Did you see their faces when those club dorks showed up?" 

"Yeah!" He snickers. " It's amazing what people can do when blasted out on a metric ton of LSD!" 

Lydia convinced Beetlejuice that it would be a blast to trick the club-goers into crashing at the art gallery. She had the demon send invitations and flyers stating there would be a rave happening at the address the artists were taking up for their first showing. They had to make it sound appealing to a bunch of losers, in Beetlejuice's words, who thought a drug and alcohol-free club sounded fun. 

It didn't work at first, the ghosts waving off the idea quickly. Until Beetlejuice, unbeknownst to Lydia, had dropped some good old fashioned Colobiums Devil's Breathe into all the glasses of the crowd. Completely at the mercy of any suggestion, Beetlejuice whispered the address of the gallery into their ears and subtly nudged them out the door. 

Lydia isn't really sure when he threw the lysergic acid diethylamide into the mix, but it had to be between the club and the gallery because the drug managed to kick in right as the mob entered into the front door, equally confusing and mortifying the artists there. Everything after that was chaos and Beetlejuice was  _ living  _ it. 

"Those people will be alright won't they?" Lydia says a little worried. 

"They'll be fine." Beetlejuice dismisses. "They can't kill over from an overdose anymore, and it'll wear off pretty fast. It should've left most of their systems already. Ghosts can't hold onto a high for very long." 

"What about demons?" Lydia inquires. 

"Even less long." He says forlornly. Beetlejuice never does any drugs while Lydia is around. He withholds not only because she's still a minor, but the last thing he needs is for the Deetz or Maitlands to march straight into the underworld to tell him off for turning their little girl into a substance abuser. 

Besides, Beetlejuice really only takes a hit when he feels like he really needs it. Demons haven't the means to become addicted themselves. Shooting up something like heroin only lasts for a few minutes, but it kept him preoccupied while he was trapped in the living world. He spends most of his days rather distracted now. 

Lydia suddenly wraps her hands pretty tightly around Beetlejuice's shoulders, just now taking notice over how high up he's taken them. Luckily, Beetlejuice now smells less like a decomposing corpse that was found floating in the murkiest pollution filled river imaginable. He hasn't necessarily taken a bath or shower, but he let Lydia chase him around his house with a garden hose for a little bit and a revolting amount of dirt and mold washed away into the orange dry sand around them. His suit was wet for days, but he came out a little more cleanly. 

He smells like garden dirt and wet mulch now, which Lydia can easily deal with. It reminds her of the Maitland's small garden at the back of the house. Sometimes Lydia will carry this scent back home and her family always calls attention to it, asking if she's been spending time out in the yard. Delia got so excited about it she forced the girl into attending a gardening class with her for six weeks. After that Lydia made sure she always takes a shower after she returns home before she runs into any one of her parents. 

The city passes by in streaks under them. Beetlejuice takes her a little outside the city limits where pavement merges into bright sand and dead grass. It's oddly fitting that the entity prefers a more hot and dry climate. Beetlejuice does often remind Lydia of an actual beetle, and sunbathing is just one of those quirks. Even though Lydia can't feel the heat herself, Beetlejuice is always quick to remind her that it's because she isn't dead and that she should be glad she can't feel this because the heat would be unbearable for any breather to handle. 

Regardless of this inability, Lydia can still see the waves of heat under their feet when they touch down directly into his front yard. 

"Home sweet home!" He said putting Lydia down. 

"Here Beej," Lydia said, making grabby hands towards his hair. "Let me get that leg out of your head." 

Beetlejuice bends down to let the girl grab a hold of and tug roughly at the wooden plank. It took a few tries and groans before the object dislodges from his skull and slides out, Lydia throwing it away from them. She's become strangely numb to this sort of thing. 

"Do ghosts not bleed? That sculptor dug that sucker in nice and deep." Lydia asked while watching Beetlejuice's wound slowly mend itself back together.

"Nah." He said rubbing his head where the wound now used to be. "Can't bleed if you have no blood. I can, but it takes a very special kind of wound." 

"Like?" 

"Curses, sandworm bites, or getting into a fight with another demon." Lydia hums at the answer.

"Well if it isn't the duo of the hour!" A voice booms out around them.

It's from Tim. He is one of Beetlejuice's neighbors, or more accurately one of the closest people living within the vicinity of Beetlejuice. He's a very large and broadly built southern man. He wears a blue plaid shirt, with dark jeans and mud-caked leather cowboy boots. He also wears a tattered stetson hat that hides the large concave head wound that led to his demise a few months ago. Lydia assumes it was a horse, considering Tim appears like an old farmer or farm hand and the hole looks to be about hoof size. He doesn't like to talk about it or show the scar off. 

"The news says a bunch of folks want your heads." He drawls in his bass tone voice, while lazily approaching them. Lydia can hear Beetlejuice start to purr as he watches the other man stride up. 

"He can dig something nice and deep into me any day," Beetlejuice mumbles to no one in particular. 

"Gross!" Lydia gags, pushing the spirit away from her. 

Lydia remembers the massive tantrum Beetlejuice threw when he found out he was going to have a neighbor for the first time. He was stomping around shaking the ground and screaming incomprehensible things to the sky. "A neighbor? Who needs a neighbor? How am I supposed to go bug hunting with some jackass building their house on top of the best rock this side of the Netherworld?" 

That was until Tim stepped outside the decently large moving truck, freezing Beetlejuice in his place, practically drooling as he watched the man move all of his furniture inside the home with impressive ease. Needless to say, Beetlejuice was hooked, lined, and sunk. 

"You ghosts need to lighten up," Beetlejuice says as Tim stops walking right in front of them, arms crossed. "Have a little wine, party a little. You're already fucking dead, so go ham!" 

"Guess a demon wouldn't understand." Tim scoffs. "There is a time and place for things like that." 

"Yeah, it's called the living world." Beetlejuice bites back. "Leave your inhibitions at the door cowpoke. There are millions of people floating around in purgatory that would die again for the chance to live it up in this city." 

Beetlejuice and Tim often argue over morality whenever they have the chance to talk with one another. Tim is a reserved quiet man, living next to the personification of chaos. Lydia never really sees either of their sides as truth, however. Beetlejuice always has some pretty compelling points, but Tim is human. So he can empathize with the desire to cling onto one's previous behaviors and routines, as can Lydia. 

Beetlejuice never got to live. He never goes into full details about his childhood or time spent as a family unit with Juno, but Lydia is positive it was anything but normal or healthy. Beetlejuice has issues understanding human behavior because he was never human. A born dead, as he puts it, but that isn't all bad. He has an interesting perspective on life and death and isn't afraid of challenging his or anyone else's reservations. 

Beetlejuice may cross a line every once in a while and really make someone, even Lydia, feel uncomfortable, but she's learned that the demon just needs to be told very flatly and clearly what he's doing wrong. There hasn't been a single time where Beetlejuice hasn't adjusted his behavior around the girl. He'll slip up, even get defensive over certain things, but he still tries to understand Lydia's concerns. Even if he's mad, he is still listening, and he will change, regardless of whether or not he'll acknowledge that change out loud. 

Lydia has learned that Beetlejuice is hard to read, and his actions speak far louder than his words. He doesn't know how to articulate his feelings, so he'll just  _ do  _ something instead. He'll apologize by making Lydia something she'll like, he'll be silent if he's angry, mope around his house when he's sad, stays a finger length away when he's lonely and laughs like a child if he's content. It's about looking at what he's doing and not what he's saying, because he often lies. 

Not maliciously, of course, but as a defense mechanism. As much as he denies it, Beetlejuice seems to be really afraid of making the people he cares about angry at him, and not this quick superstitious anger that comes and goes whenever he messes around with people. True anger, the kind that screams hatred, disappointment, and that never goes away. Like a seething unforgiving parent. 

Of course, his hair is also a huge indicator of the type of mood Beetlejuice is in. The strands shift in color tones and shades to help people gauge the intensity of his state of mind. Green is his neutral state, and the lighter it is the happier he seems. Purples and blues are different stages of sadness and loneliness, it is the second most common color Lydia witnesses next to green. Red is anger, irritation, or resentment, and orange is an indicator of annoyance and a warning sign that he's going red. 

However, he also has other shades. Bright pink is an embarrassment, pastel pink is loving or feeling loved, yellow is when he's feeling uncomfortable, and a sickly green-yellow is when he indulges in feelings of self-hatred. The only other color Lydia has seen is white, which is fear. She often sees that one when Beetlejuice is around Sandworms, but it is otherwise incredibly rare. 

"You think drugging people is their idea of living it up?" Tim hissed. 

"No, but it's funny." Beetlejuice snorts out a laugh. "Calm down brokeback, drugs don't even last long on you guys anyway and they don't have the physical brain anymore to get addicted either," Beetlejuice explains quickly when Tim's jawline tenses in agitation. "It's like giving someone a cup of coffee at this point." 

"Are you two arguing again?" Another voice echoes from behind the three. 

They all turn and Beetlejuice lets out a very loud and obnoxious groan, making Lydia elbow him in the ribs. The woman approaching the fence that surrounds Beetlejuice's house doesn't seem to mind and chooses to lean against the crooked planks instead of joining them. Her name is Ginger. She's a very tall and willowy woman. She looks much older than Tim is, probably about sixty. 

Ginger moved in next to Beetlejuice about a month after Tim did. The two characters are the only neighbors of the demon, so Lydia has come into contact with them quite often. Ginger is an odd woman, who dresses in a mix of the nineteen-twenties and modern chic fashion. She is passive of Beetlejuice's behavior, choosing to ignore him the best she can. Beetlejuice opts to do the same. He hasn't shown any sexual interest and won't even bother trying to annoy her. It is like they have somehow mentally agreed to stay out of each other's way for the most part. The only time she engages with them is if there is a meditator there, like Tim.

"Evenin' Ginger." Tim greets with a tip of his hat. Beetlejuice doesn't say anything and just stares her down. 

"Hey, Ginger!" Lydia says in place of him. 

"Hello Tim, Lydia." The woman says smiling. "I saw you two in the news." Lydia snorts and chuckles with Beetlejuice. 

"It ain't funny." Tim scolded. 

"It's pretty funny," Lydia argued. 

"It's super funny," Beetlejuice added. 

"You need to find a better hobby than terrorizing us dead folk." 

"I can think of several different things I could do to you." Beetlejuice purrs, literally. Tim stutters on his reply and opts to just turn away and ignore Beetlejuice's suggestion, choosing to leave rather than indulge him with a reply. The entity just laughs at watching him leave. 

"It's getting pretty early on the other side isn't it?" Ginger cuts in. "Sweety, shouldn't you be heading home soon?" 

"Yeah." Lydia groans. "I'll probably only get like three hours of sleep this time before Deila bashes down my door."

Lydia suddenly caught sight of the spider that crawls around on Ginger for a split second. She apparently died of a bite from a Brazilian wandering spider while on vacation. She didn't realize the eight-legged creature was even venomous before it was much too late. It was happenstance that she managed to kill over on the very same spider, taking the small creature with her into the Netherworld where it has remained on her spirit since. Beetlejuice has offered to eat the arachnid several times, but Ginger always vehemently refuses, stating she's grown attached to the thing. 

"Then you better hurry back. Don't let Beetlejuice keep you longer than he should." Ginger replies softly. Beetlejuice makes a noise that vaguely resembles a growl, but not quite as aggressive as a growl would be. 

"I will," Lydia says. Ginger nods and turns to leave, quickly waving goodbye to Lydia before walking towards her home. "Have you ever noticed she doesn't ever greet or say goodbye to you?" Lydia turns to Beetlejuice. 

"I believe she thinks that if she pretends I'm not here, that I'll magically go away." He says more seriously than Lydia expected. "I think she's scared of me." 

"Why would she be scared of you?" Lydia asks skeptically. 

"It's not unusual, I am a demon. Ever since the old hag found that out she's been avoiding me like the plague. Maybe she's religious, or she thinks I'm scheming something. I don't really fucking know." Beetlejuice accentuates by shoving his shoulders above his ears. 

"You  _ are  _ always scheming though." Lydia teases. 

"Yeah." Beetlejuice giggles. "I am". Lydia snickers along with him. "Come on kid, you better actually head back before one of those losers notice you're gone." 

Lydia nods and follows Beetlejuice back inside his house. The exterior of his home isn't really anything fancy. Half the home is actually partially hidden inside a thick rocky cliffside, with a small makeshift fence around the stone to establish the edge of his property. Beetlejuice explained that he's owned this section of the Netherworld for centuries before he was banished into the world of the living. It used to just be vast emptiness, like the rest of the Netherworld was when Juno was in charge. He'd use it as a way of escaping Juno when things between them got really bad. After he returned, he took advantage of the new and improved look of the underworld and made his little hideaway spot into an actual home. 

The interior is exactly like the way her house looked when Beetlejuice took over the first few days they met. Lydia can't tell if the stripes are a part of Beetlejuice's biology or if he just really likes the aesthetic of the design. He has the basic commodities for a normal house, a living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, and an unused bathroom. His second bedroom is essentially Lydia's room. Sometimes she'll ditch some of her classes at school and catch up on some sleep at his place. She's welcome to come in and out as she pleases, and if she goes into her room Beetlejuice won't bother her since it normally signifies she wants to rest for a bit. He'll even try and stay as quiet as possible or go out to keep from waking her. 

It's oddly sweet. 

"I wish you could come and hang out at my place every once in a while. There is this stash of these big juicy earth warms under Barbara's myrtle bush and oh you can see the star Betelgeuse from our roof!" Lydia says spinning into the front door. "Barbara and Adam also started working on this town model in the attic and I'm sure there is _something_ fun to do with that." 

"Heh, if only." He replies softly. Lydia stops her whirlwind into the living room and carefully looks at Beetlejuice. 

"Do you think you can ever talk to them?" Lydia asks gently. "I know you don't really want to….but I…" 

"Hey." Beetlejuice pats her on the head. "I want to, but I know it'll end badly and if they find out we've been hanging for a year it'll be even worse. There are some things adults just can't and won't get over, and I'm one of them." 

"But if I can convince them to see you the way I do…" 

"It won't happen. I nearly killed Adam's wife, I  _ did  _ kill Delia's guru, almost stabbed your dad, and forced you into marrying me." Beetlejuice silently gags at the last one. "I'm one big bad memory, and I'm not gonna walk into a minefield if I don't have to." Beetlejuice starts to curl into himself defensively, biting down on his bottom lip more aggressively, the roots of his hair bleeding into yellow. "I am sorry for all that, but adults don't forgive and forget easily. I'm like the luckiest demon in the world because you've forgiven me and you really didn't have to." 

"I know." Lydia sighs dejected. "I just... want them to understand you as I do." Lydia pouts. 

Beetlejuice steps up to her and flicks her bottom lip lightly. "Come on Lyds, don't start pouting." 

"I'm not!" Lydia yells, smacking his hand away. He arches his eyebrow when her lip seems to jut out even further. 

Suddenly Lydia jumps at Beetlejuice, nearly knocking the man over and kicking some wind out of him. 

"Whoa!" He says regaining balance. Lydia wraps herself around his midsection in a tight hug, hiding her face away into his dirty undershirt. He can't help but huff out a laugh. He bends down and moves her arms around his shoulder so he can return her gesture, hugging her tightly around the waist and trying to pour out his gratitude into the action. His hair a soft gradient of pink. 

"You're my BFFFF forever dude," Lydia mumbles into his collar bone. He always feels so soft.

"Yeah," His voice breaks. "Mine too." 

They stay like that for a few seconds, before Beetlejuice picks up and to awkwardly starts to shimmy the girl towards his basement's door. Lydia whips her head out and watches as the demon manages to turn the handle with his foot. 

"Ugh." She groans dramatically sliding off Beetlejuice and onto the ground like a fish. 

"You're going to get, like, no sleep." He teases. Lydia grunts again, but crawls up and onto her feet. "See you later?" He asks. He always asks. 

"Duh! I'll see you tomorrow Beej!" Lydia said descending the staircase. "You better come up with something that'll top tonight!" 

"Oh, you bet!" He cackles and watches her until he hears her call his name three times, setting aside the pull the words cause in his core, and vanishes at the center of the room. He closes his door, smiling and much happier than he normally is whenever Lydia leaves. 


	2. Happy Friendiversary

"Charles, have you noticed something's up with Lydia?" Delia had asked over their early morning breakfast. She is wrapped in a bright purple silk robe, hugging the fabric against herself to stave off the morning's chill air. A simple meal is laid out between her and her husband. Charles is lazily sipping from his coffee mug, scrolling through emails on his phone. 

They are both situated at a small wooden table that Charles placed inside the kitchen for normal and insignificant meals. The meticulously decorated dining room is only used for family dinners or dinner parties. No reason to tempt fate and spill bacon grease or coffee grinds on their expensive upholstery chairs. Especially with how physically expressive Lydia has become. She is consistently making a mess somewhere. 

"What do you mean?" Charles inquires, lowering his phone onto the table to look over at Delia.

"She seems more tired than usual. Every day she's asked me to let her sleep in, and even when she does wake up she's always in such a mood." She explains. 

"Well, she is a teenager. Staying up late and being crabby is their normal state of being." 

"Yes, but it's unusual for her," Delia says, waving off Charles' response. "She's never had trouble sleeping before. I hope she's not having bad dreams." 

"Who is having bad dreams?" A soft voice asks from outside the kitchen. Barbara peaks her head out from the archway, with Adam following a second behind her. They both look like curious toddlers. The couple walks into the kitchen together and takes a seat at the last two chairs available around the table. 

"Lydia." Delia sighs. "She hasn't been sleeping well." 

"She has been rather moody lately." Adam agrees.

"I wonder if that has anything to do with the noises I've been hearing on the roof lately?" Barbara said cryptically. Her hands reach forward to pick up the percolator on the table, but she quickly realizes her action and pulls away. The dead can't eat or drink anymore or at least they can't consume the foods of the living. 

"The roof?" Charles asks, confused. 

"These past few nights I've been hearing some shuffling sounds outside the attic window, but whenever I check outside I can't see anything. Lydia's bedroom window is on the opposite side of ours so…"

"You think she's hanging out on the roof at night?" Charles cuts in doubtfully. 

"No." Barbara corrects him. "I phased through the wall early this morning when I heard it again, just to make sure no one was out there. There was nothing there. Lydia was in her bed and I didn't see anyone or anything sneaking away. I was pretty quick about it too." 

"Then what were you going to say?" Delia questions.

"I think Lydia is going somewhere. I'm positive I heard her leaving earlier in the night, then I almost caught her climbing back through her window this morning." 

“Where could Lydia possibly be going in the middle of the night?” Charles replies, confounded. “We aren’t exactly back in New York. Not a lot of nightlife in small-town Connecticut.” 

Delia lays her hand over her husband's arm to calm him. Ever since the incident that brought the Maitlands into their lives, Charles has had a hard time imagining Lydia doing anything wrong purposefully. He overlooks a lot of her behaviors because they are still slowly healing from their wounded relationship and he’s scared any wrong move will send them straight back to zero. Delia understands that Lydia isn’t as fussy as Charles believes she is. So as her stepmother she has to step in, more often than not, to discipline Lydia where she needs it. She doesn’t usually cause any trouble at all, though. So even Delia is having a hard time picturing Lydia just roaming around the town at night. 

“Maybe she’s meeting some school friends?” Adam proposes, opting to ignore the slight insult from Charles about his hometown. 

“Lydia doesn’t have many after school friends.” Delia is quick to disagree. “She normally spends her free time alone and around the parks and downtown, taking pictures of the buildings or people. I’ve never seen her with anyone, and she never asks if anyone can come over.”

“Well, there is the issue of her skipping some of her classes.” Barabra cuts in. 

The woman is right. The family was shocked when they received a phone call from Lydia's homeroom teacher stating the girl had been skipping multiple of her afternoon classes. Charles and Delia had to have a very long talk about why and where she was going. Lydia claims sometimes she just had to leave because she would get overwhelmed and the girl didn’t know what to do. She would go to the closest park and wait until she felt ready to go back. Charles automatically assumed these “overwhelming feelings” were either related to Emily, his late wife, or to a particular demon and his attack on their family months ago. Regardless, Charles wasn’t about to get angry at his daughter for having, what he believes, were panic attacks.

Delia knew the child was lying right off the bat. She was far to calm delivering those lines. They almost sounded rehearsed, like Lydia had prepared an excuse in case she was caught. Delia didn’t bring it up at the time because she was secure in her belief that Lydia was hiding something, but it isn’t anything dangerous or incredibly bad. Delia would be able to recognize any drug or alcohol use, her history with substances being rather helpful if a regretful guide. The woman doesn’t see any sign of bullying or physical abuse, and Lydia has become increasingly happier as the months go on, so the kid isn’t under any emotional stress either. 

Though sneaking out in the dead of night and early morning isn’t a particularly good sign. Delia did presuppose that Lydia’s secret was hobby related. She’s a very strange and particular child, and it wouldn’t be surprising at all if she was skipping school so she could take a photo of the park at just the right time of day or anything similar along those lines, but night stalking in secrete? 

“We already know why she was skipping her classes,” Charles replies irked. 

“Maybe she’s meeting a boy.” Barbara hypothesis. “She could just be really shy and isn’t ready to bring him around yet.”

"Yeah! Even Barbara and I had our small moments like that back in high school." Adam says, going to rub the hand of his wife. It wasn’t impossible, but the explanation just doesn’t feel right to Delia.

“We don’t even know if she is, in fact, sneaking out! You said it yourself, Lydia was sleeping in her bed when you checked outside.” Charles exclaims very suddenly. “We could be speaking hearsay.” 

“Then let’s try and catch her in the act!” Delia throws in the idea before a fight needlessly breaks out between Barbara and Charles. The kicked puppy dog look Adam just had has steeled Barbara's features immeasurably. “If she is sneaking out, you and Adam can keep watch and catch her when she tries to leave. _If_ she does try to sneak out, you can stop her, and we’ll figure out the rest from there.” 

“Okay.” Barbara ponders, holding her chin with her hand. “Okay, we do that!” she says smiling again. 

"Yeah!" Adam joins in. "This way we can be absolutely sure without assuming the worst." 

Charles seems placated by the idea and slumps further down his seat. He finishes the dregs of his coffee, before checking his phone one last time. 

"I should head to the office." He says, standing and straightening his suit out. "We can discuss what we can do tonight when I return." He says directly at Delia. 

"Alright. Let me know what you want for dinner later and good luck with your meeting. A positive mind brings forth positive outcomes!" Delia receives a quick kiss from him, and she waves him off until he disappears from the kitchen entirely. 

"Why is he so adamant to ignore what is happening with Lydia?" Barbara asks softly a few minutes after they hear the front door open and shut. It isn't hateful or even defensive, she actually sounds kind of sad. 

"I think Charles just really wants everything to stay normal and happy. Or at least what's considered normal for us." Delia laughs at the stark reminder that she's talking to literal ghosts. "Lydia and Charles have already been through so much, he's scared that anything more may just be the final straw for them. We can't have another incident like before, happen again." 

"You mean what happened with Beetlejui…" 

"Ah, ah ah!" Adam shushes Barbara up quickly. "I know it doesn't count if we say it, but I think it's best if we just avoid _his_ name altogether." 

"He is a part of it, yes, but I was referring to Charles and Lydia's relationship from back then," Delia explains. "Charles is terrified that Lydia will start to hate and lose trust in him again, so he's doing everything he can to safeguard that bond. Even if it means turning a blind eye." 

"Well, it’s a good thing we're here then!" Barbara states happily. "We’ll figure all this out together.”

“Hopefully we’re wrong,” Adam says uneasily. 

“Even if we’re not, it’ll be better to stop this now than later,” Delia says. “There are not a lot of good things I can think a teenage girl can get up to in the dead of night.” 

The other two adults don’t reply, too scared to give voice to their worst assumptions. Lydia isn’t a stupid girl and she’s hardly a pushover. With any luck, Delia will be right and the answer will be something completely eccentric and bizarre, but harmless. Only time will tell at this point. Now Delia must prepare for the rest of her day and try to set aside her concern. 

* * *

Lydia’s day so far has been rather dull. Delia woke her up again around ten in the morning, all smiles and positive attitude, ushering her downstairs to eat her breakfast before it turned cold. After that Lydia spent her morning scrolling through her phone on the various websites she frequents. She likes to post her photography on her personal blog, follow and watch her favorite artists online, and laugh at some stupid jokes or videos. Lydia’s winter break has been consistently more interesting at night, with Beetlejuice, than it has spent in her home. There is only so much of this town to explore and it's less fun without having someone to do it with. 

Lydia has a small friend group from school, but they all don’t keep in touch once the school bell releases them from their state-mandated prison. She thinks it's fun to talk to them during classes and joke around until the teacher's blood vessels pop, but Lydia isn’t interested in having a deeper connection with them. She wants to talk about all the cool things she and Beetlejuice get up to or talk about the Maitlands and how amazing they are, but she knows the minute any of that leaves her mouth her friends would either laugh her off or treat her like some attention-seeking weirdo. That girl that makes up lies to seek the validation and the love of others.

They wouldn’t be able to understand any of it. Besides, she already has a best friend. A person she can tell everything too, regardless of how weird or strange it is. He’d just laugh or tease her, then probably toss half a dozen flies into his sharp jaws. Lydia laughs just thinking about it. 

During the afternoon Lydia goes up into the attic to help the Maitlands with their new pet project. The town model is meticulous and impressive, even though Adam only has about twenty percent of the layout finished. Barbara helps where she can, such as painting the buildings or miniature objects, but she mainly supervises the placement of each item. Lydia has been taking pictures of the streets for them, and normally pulls up the satellite view on google maps so they can have the precise reference for their homes and shops. She had to explain that some of the street images are old and out of date, so it would be better to work off of both her photos and the internet. 

“Thank you for doing this,” Adam says, wiping down a small fire hydrant in his hands. “It's a shame we can’t go and see the town for ourselves, but your pictures are a lifesaver.”

Lydia is propped up on the top of an old crate box, watching Adam and Barabra hover around the table where the large model was splayed out on. The attic hasn’t been changed too much since the Maitlands have moved up here permanently. They had Charles help move a bed inside so the couple could at least pretend to have a normal and fairly regular routine. As spirits, Adam and Barbara don’t technically need to sleep, but they can. So they do, otherwise, they would be passing a lot of time alone and hushed. It would only emphasize how much they aren’t alive anymore. 

Lydia can tell the couple has not yet adjusted to the idea of being dead, but every day they get better and better at being ghosts. Even if their main goal is to fit in with the living family as much as possible. Lydia often finds herself asking Beeltjuice a lot of questions she knows the Maitlands can’t answer. Like where is the line drawn between a normal dead person and a demon? Why doesn’t Beetlejuice sleep, if other ghosts can? How come Beetlejuice can float, but all the other Netherworld occupants seem to be just as glued to the ground as she was? He seems to have a lot more knowledge than their handbook. Which is currently resting between Barbara and a small round end table. Their new endeavor keeps their attention away from it. 

“Don’t mention it,” Lydia says smiling. “I like taking pictures of the town anyway, so it's no skin off my back. Besides I need something to do while on my break that isn’t Christmas shopping with Delia.”

“Speaking of that,” Barbra speaks. “How has your break been so far? Anything new and exciting going on?” 

“Not really.” Lydia snorts. “Aside from all the Christmas chaos. Oh, dad did get me some watercolor pans so I can start painting again!” She adds excitedly.

“Oho another artist aye?” Adam laughs. “Maybe I can have you help paint some of the smaller miniatures. My hands get all shaky when it comes to small details like that.” 

“You aren’t hanging out with any of your friends during the holiday?” Barbara cuts in again. 

“Nope,” Lydia says casually. 

“Why not?” Barbara inquiries. 

“I don’t really hang out with my school friends. They're just _school_ friends.” Lydia answers. “I'd rather be here, doing this boring stuff with you guys.” Barabra cracked a smile at that. 

“So there isn’t anyone you hang out with?” Barbara persists. “Like a...boy maybe?”

“Gross!” Lydia retches. “No! I’m not interested in...that kind of thing.” 

“It's not unusual for girls your age…”

“Nope! Na-da!” Lydia yells covering her ears and hopping off her makeshift seat. “I am not having this conversation.” Lydia runs towards the attic door and shoves it open. “Let me know if you need anything else, otherwise I’ll be in my room trying to bleach my brain!” She catches Adam waving her off with a laugh.

Her bedroom is where she stays the remaining hours of the day. She had spent that time sketching out painting ideas and testing the pigment of her new watercolor palette. She was coaxed downstairs for dinner once her father arrived back home from work and the evening flew by her. She is already getting dressed and bundled up to head out for the evening. Beetlejuice seemed particularly excited about tonight and said it was a secret. Lydia could only imagine what he has in mind, but it's incredibly important because tonight will be the last night she can visit him until school starts. 

Delia and her dad have the entire next week planned out from morning to night with family activities and trips for the holiday. There is no way the girl can manage to be awake twenty-four hours a day. She is already physically exhausted as it is, keeping up the schedule she has. Charles even took the entire week off just so he could spend time with his daughter, and she’s really excited about it. 

Breaking the news to Beetlejuice had been easier than she expected, once she thoroughly explained everything. He was pouting the rest of the night, but he didn’t try to convince her to keep visiting him. So that was a win in Lydia’s book. So whatever scheme he has planned for today is more than likely a giant “Farewell, see you next year!” extravaganza. He was giggling all last night over it. 

So, of course, she is slithering her way out the window as soon as the lights downstairs flick off. She is over in the corner reaching for the rope when two familiar but loud voices call out to her. 

“ _Lydia!_ ” 

The girl is so startled she nearly slid off the edge of the roof. She catches herself with the palm of her hand and nudging her foot against the edge of the gutter. Holding her heart, her eyes beeline to the two figures stomping towards her. The Maitlands never look angry, but Lydia can recognize parents' faces of disappointment any day, and God did she wish it wasn’t today. 

“Why are you guys here?” She asks panic-stricken. 

“Why are you sneaking off of the roof?” Barabara counters. “Where could you possibly be going at this hour?” 

“Would you believe me if I said feet hunting?” 

“No.” Barabra bites. “Downstairs. Now.” 

Barbara and Adam herd Lydia back into her room and downstairs. She tosses her jacket and scarf onto her bed when she passes it. When Lydia drags herself down the last step Delia and her father were already waiting in the living room on the couch. Their faces falling as she rounds on them from behind. Lydia wants to scream and bolt towards the door. She had a feeling she couldn’t hide sneaking out forever, but did it have to be tonight of all nights? If she doesn't meet up with Beetlejuice, lord knows what will run through his mind. It's not like Lydia hasn’t had to ditch on their plans before and deal with Beetlejuice's sullen attitude afterward, but she can’t do that tonight. Not after he expressed how important it is.

“Lydia?” Charles says standing from the couch. 

“You guys are up to?” Is all she can manage to say, avoiding the look on his face.

“She was trying to sneak out. Just like we thought.” Adam speaks up from behind Barbara. 

“Wait, how long have you guys known?” Lydia asks annoyed. 

“That doesn’t matter.” Barabra swerved. “Where were you going?” 

“Nowhere,” Lydia says automatically. “I just wanted to get out for some fresh air.” 

“Lydia we saw you trying to climb down off of the roof. You snuck out last night too didn’t you?” Adam tosses her excuse away. “Please, we just want to know where you’ve been going.” He says more gently than his wife. 

“Yeah.” Lydia sighs. “I’ve been leaving at night to go walk around the parks and town. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, and the cold air and exercise help.” 

“You could have just told us, sweety,” Charles says bending down to her height. “There is more than one way to help someone get to sleep than leaving the house so late. It's dangerous. Who knows who you could run into this late.” 

“I didn’t want to worry anyone.” Lydia mumbles. 

“You’re lying,” Delia interjects suddenly. Lydia winces at the accusation, more than a little agitated because she nearly got away with it. 

“Delia.” Charles sternly says. 

“No.” Delia put her hand to his face. “I know you’re lying. Like you lied about why you’ve been skipping school. Lydia whatever it is you’re doing can be shared amongst this family. We shouldn’t be keeping secrets from each other or lying about them.” 

“I’m not lying!" Lydia says desperately. She can’t tell them about Beetlejuice. Delia can claim whatever she wants, but she can’t do that to him. 

“You are.” She says stubbornly. “Now where have you been going?”

“Delia this isn’t..”

“She’s right Charles.” Barbara asserts. “Have you been going to see someone or do _anything_?” She emphasizes anything letting Lydia ascertain her meaning behind it.

“I already told you.” Lydia persists. “I’m not lying! I just go out for a little bit to be alone!” 

“Charles we need to have a word,” Delia says suddenly, pushing her husband away and into the kitchen. 

Adam and Barabara look at each other for a moment before deciding to follow them. Barabara gives Lydia a stern look, telepathically telling her to stay put or else. Adam gave her a sympathetic nod before they too left her line of sight. Lydia is nearly on the verge of tears she’s so disheartened. Whatever excuse she has to use, she’ll use it to be able to keep her and Beetlejuice’s relationship a secret. She knows, deep down, neither Beetlejuice or her family is ready to have that talk. However, what is eating away at her is not being able to see or tell Beetlejuice any of this. 

He’ll think she’s forgotten him. That’s she’s just leaving him, and can’t even bother to stick around on the night he was so excited for. Lydia has to tell him. Even if it's just a split second, a quick “Hey can’t come tonight, got caught, tell you later!”. She could summon the Bridgeway between her world and his in a matter of seconds. It’ll be like she just disappeared after all the actual landscape of her home won’t change. Even if her family comes back into the room and she’s still gone, the worst that’ll come of it is a longer grounding and slightly wounded trust.

“Beetlejuice.” Lydia finds herself saying without even realizing it. “Beetlejuice.” 

“Lydia, come here!” She can hear Delia calling her from the kitchen. 

Come here races through Lydia's panic-driven head unwarranted. Come here.

“Beetlejuice.” 

_Come here._

It takes about half a second before Lydia realizes what she’s just done. The sound inside the room comes to halt, as Beetljuise pops into existence beside her. His arms held wide, and a goofy smile on his face, right as Delia and Barbara stomp back into the room. Everything feels like it's in slow-mo. Delia's and Barbara's face falling as their eyes fall upon a floating green-haired man. 

“Heya Lyds, I thought we were…” Beetlejuice freezes like a deer in headlights, literally, when he sees them. His body, which normally moves up and down when he’s floating, has suspended like a paused movie moment. His arms still held out awkwardly high and bright yellow eyes wide. 

The looks on the women's faces would have been comical if in any other situation that wasn’t this and Lydia wants to expire. A hole could open up and swallow her down and she’d thank the universe for it. 

“Wha?” Delia utters speechless. Charles and Adam then make their way back into the room and Adam very nearly knocks himself into the wall after double-taking so hard. 

“Lyds,” Beetlejuice whispers to her, his body still fixed in the air. “The fuck is going on?” 

“I wanna die.” She whines. “That’s what’s going on.” Beetlejuice floats back down onto the ground, his heels tapping against the hardwood, and pats the top of her head. 

"Welcome to the club." 

“Lydia.” Delia very gently says watching them. “Why is Beetljucie here?” 

“How did he get here?” Charles spits, and charges towards Beetlejuice, pushing the women in front of him aside. 

Lydia didn’t miss the wave of yellow throughout Beetlejuice’s hair as her father bears down on him. She quickly positions herself between Charles and the demon, sticking out her arms as a means of telling her dad to cease. 

“Stop!” Lyda yells when he ignores her. “Dad stop! I summoned him here.”

“Why?” He yells, pausing a few feet away from them. “Why would you call him back here? Lydia that thing damn near killed us!” 

“Lyds?” Beetlejuice calls her softly. She can hear the question in her name. He wants to know the answer to that question too, but thankfully Beetlejuice's voice doesn't hold the anger laced in between like her fathers. 

“I didn’t mean to,” Lydia said more to Beetlejuice than Charles. The last thing she wants is for Beeltjuice to think she’s done this on purpose. 

“Lydia, come over here,” Adam says, frantically motioning for her to move towards him. “Please.”

“No.” She sternly says. 

“Lydia please get away from him.” Barbara urges. “Just run over here.” 

“No!” She angrily spits. “I’m not going anywhere!” 

“Lydia please just do what…” Charles starts to say, grabbing for Lydia’s wrist, but the girl managed to evade him at the last moment. She runs directly behind Beetlejuice, her hands clasping onto the back of his suit jacket. She can feel the demon tense for a moment in surprise.

“Lydia!” 

“Back off Chuck,” Beeltjuice warns him when he moves closer to them again in an attempt to pull Lydia away. “If she doesn’t wanna go, then she’s not going.” He hisses in that disconcerting way of his. 

Charles backs away at that, but not far enough away for any type of comfort to the duo. Lydia buries her face into the entity's back. Praying that when she opens her eyes again, this whole ordeal never happened, and she'd be tucked away in bed chalking this all up to a bad dream. 

“Okay,” Delia says inserting herself between Beetlejuice and Charles now. “I think we all need to calm down and take a deep breath.” 

“Delia he’s dangerous,” Charles argues. 

“Charles please,” Delia begs him. “Becoming angry won’t help solve anything.” 

Charles deflates a bit at the tone of voice Delia is using. Of course, she is right, but it's hard to let his guard down around a ghost that very nearly destroyed his family and now his daughter is clinging onto him like a scared toddler. Delia moves over to grab onto his arm and slowly caresses it. He reigns in his breathing and tries to will his heartbeat to slow down. Adam and Barbara start to approach her very cautiously. 

“Lydia?” Barbara calls softly. “Why did you call Beetlejuice here?” She tries to keep her voice even and gentle, even though she is absolutely perplexed and taken aback over the fact that Lydia is seeking comfort and protection from _Beetlejuice_. 

“Because.” She mumbles through the demons back and takes a moment to continue on. “Because he’s my friend!” She finishes by turning her head to the side so her voice can ring loud and clear. 

“Lydia, Beetlejuice is dangerous and unstable. He…” 

“God, I know!” She interrupts Adam. “I know what he did, obviously, I was there, but we moved past that! Just because you can’t understand...” 

“Lyds.” Beetlejuice cuts in softly. “It's okay. Look, I’m obviously not wanted here so I’ll just go.” He says turning his body so he can pry Lydia's hands off of him. We can talk about it later. After you guys figure all of _this_ out.” He says waving his hand over the family and room. 

“But…” 

“I think that's for the best.” Barbara agrees. “Clearly we are all missing a huge bit of information, and Beetlejuice's presence isn’t helping the matter at all.” Even though Beetlejuice was the one to propose the idea, he still couldn’t stop himself from partly glaring at the woman across from him. He watches as Adam protectively stands next to her as if the demon would suddenly lunge forward at them.

“Just send me home kid.” He says, turning away from the family and only focusing on Lydia. Lydia wants to argue, but he’s right. She didn't even mean to call him, but now that he's here it's hard to just let him leave and face her family on her own. 

"Okay." She sniffs stepping back. His face looks pained after hearing her. After all, Beetlejuice hates it when Lydia cries. "You're not mad?" It is a stupid question. She can tell he's not mad. The roots of his hair had settled on yellow but his tips are still frosted green, there isn't a hint of red anywhere. She has to ask anyway though. 

"I'm not mad." He tells her easily. "Come find me later when this is all better. Even if these dipshits tell you not too." 

"Okay." Lydia lets out a small laugh. "Ready?" Beetlejuice nods, placing his hands on his hip like Superman with his jaw pointed snobbishly upward, tugging another quiet giggle from the girl. "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice." She says the name quickly, afraid that if she doesn't she won't say it at all.

Not that it seems to matter, because nothing happens. He is still standing right there in the middle of the living room, holding that pose. He cracks an eye open and looks down at Lydia. 

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" She yells quicker but more clearly. 

Beetlejuice's arms slowly migrate back down to his sides. A look of confusion and horror warping into his face. Lydia peers over to her family, who are equally as dumbfounded, standing still like statues. He suddenly starts to pat down his torso and pulls open his jacket by the lapels, digging around in those endless pockets of his for something. 

"Ah!" He cheers, pulling out a small and frequently used white chalk. He runs over to the wall closest to him, and hastily draws a door and knocks three times. The bright neon green light and fog of the Netherworld seep out from the cracks of the trim. A door creaks open and Beetlejuice throws it open the rest of the way and hastily walks through the archway. 

An inhuman and alien sound rings out from the doorway and Beetlejuice is violently thrown backward, directly back into the living room. He is moaning on the floor, letting out that hissing noise that sounds like an odd mix between an alligator and a June beetle. His head had smashed against the floor and made a sickening crack sound. 

“Beej!” Lydia yells running up to him. “Oh my god, are you okay?” She says rolling him over onto his back. Her hands hovering over him, too scared to touch in case she makes it worse. 

“Yeah.” He gargles. “Just nee...need a minute.” A black substance is flowing out his mouth and onto the floor. Lydia can see a disturbing round bulge sticking out the side of his neck, as his head flops to the side. 

“Beej you’re bleeding, I think.” Lydia frantically says. She’s never seen black blood before, but she’s also never seen Beetlejuice bleed either. 

“I think that door broke one of my ribs straight into my lung.” Beetlejuice groans. “Talk about a breath taker.” 

“Idiot.” Lydia titters. “Apparently your broken neck also cut off the circulation to your brain.” Lydia cradles the demon's head onto her lap and braces his head between her hands and jerks his head to the side aggressively, realigning his neck and spinal cord again. He hisses at the sudden jolt of pain, but after it passes he sighs gratefully. Lydia can hear Adam gag behind her. “What’s going on Beej?”

“Not sure, kiddo.” He says, with his eyes closed, trying to gather himself. The firmness of Lydia's hands against his head and in his hair feels nice and calming. “This is the sort of shit that used to happen when I was stuck here.” 

“You mean when Juno cursed you?” Lydia asks, confused. 

“Yeah.” He replies. Lydia hears Delia mumble “Juno” under her breath. “I literally can’t enter the Netherworld. It'll just spit me out like ipecac.” 

“But why? Juno is dead, and it’s never happened before. Why is it happening now?” 

“I don’t know.” Beetlejuice mewls. 

Delia manages to sneak up behind Lydia and Beetlejuice, touching a hand to his arm. The demon tenses immediately and shoots out of Lydia's lap and away from the woman in the corner of the room. He is curling in on himself a bit shocked. Like he had completely forgotten that there are other people in the house. Delia reels her hand back and splays them in front of herself in an act of defense. 

“I’m sorry.” She says worriedly. 

“It’s fine.” He bashfully replies. His ears are just pointy enough to slightly bend down when he’s acting timid. He wipes the blood off his chin to keep his hands busy. 

“It’s not fine.” Charles intervenes. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing or trying to pull. Coming back into this house, manipulating my daughter, pretending to be stuck here just so you can have an excuse to crawl your way back into this home is unacceptable!”

“Charles…” 

“No, Delia. He’s trying to exploit you and Lydia!” 

Beetlejuice's hair immediately flooded into a deep eggplant purple. His face drops as Charles accusations start to register, and he is biting his lip so hard Lydia can see the skin starting to split. 

“No, I’m not,” Beetlejuice says addled. 

“Stop lying!” Charles yells, startling the demon further into the corner. 

“Stop yelling at him,” Lydia demands.

“Lydia, please think about this,” Adam speaks at her desperately. “He’s a demon.”

“And a needy pervert,” Barbara adds. 

“And he’s only been about helping himself. He’s clearly trying to use you, sweetheart.”

Lydia’s blood is boiling. They're not listening, and while Lydia always suspected changing their mind would be difficult, the stark reality of it is demoralizing. They don’t know anything and she’s about to scream. Her mouth is opening to let out whatever vitriol words come to mind. Until she catches sight of Beetlejuice. 

He only looks this way when he’s moping around his house, hair sapphire blue, and lost in thoughts and memories he won’t share or talk about. He couldn’t possibly bend further into himself without turning into a ball. His nails are absentmindedly scratching at his arms and his eyes are darting everywhere for any exit or way to flee. So it's not surprising when he crawls down onto the floor and digs his way through the floorboards and earth and disappears. Lydia can’t even blame him, and she’s positive she knows exactly where he’s going.

Charles flings himself back in shock when Beetlejuice digs away like a bug and vanishes beneath the house. He turns to the rest of his family who look like they are still processing what just happened. He backs up a few more inches, concerned that the entity will spring back up under his feet. His eyes turn to Lydia. She’s glaring at the floor. Her arms are crossed and body rigid. 

“Lydia…”

“Shut up.” She says to him. Charles' mouth snaps shut in surprise. 

“Lydia! Listen to your…” 

“Just shut up!” The girl screams. “You don’t know anything! This is just like when mom died. You’re not listening to me! Saying all those awful things to Bj, when you don’t even know what you’re talking about!” 

“Lydia we are just trying to help you,” Barbra says stepping forward. 

“Enough.” Delia finally orders before Lydia turns on Barbara too. “All of you, that is enough.” Delia walks over to Lydia who refuses to look the woman in the eyes. She’s shaking and Delia can tell she’s hardly keeping herself from breaking down altogether. Delia bends down and holds Lydia’s arms in her hands gently, rubbing them in an attempt to comfort her. “Tell us then. Tell us what we don’t know.”

Lydia finally looks at Delia utterly exhausted. Her shoulders and head sags down in defeat. 

“I summoned Beetlejuice, almost a year ago, one day after school.” Lydia sighs. “I didn’t really have a reason, but I guess a small part of me really missed him. You guys didn’t get to see the side of him that I did. We started hanging out more and more until it became an everyday thing. I go and visit him in the Netherworld, and sometimes he hangs with me after school. That’s why I’ve been sneaking out at night and why I skipped my classes.” 

“Keep going, sweety.” Delia encourages her. 

“He’s really cool and weird and he listens to me. He makes me laugh. I know you guys just want to protect me, and that it's hard to look past what happened, but we’ve already moved on from that. Whenever I’m with Beej, I’m always the one in control. I’m the one that summons him, I choose when to leave, and he never pushes me to do anything I don’t want to do. I didn’t want you guys to find out because I didn’t want any of this to happen.” Lydia flings her arms out to move them around the space, but she makes direct contact with Charles. If she had a second pair of eyes they'd be looking at the Maitlands as well. “Believe it or not Beej is really insecure. He doesn’t like being yelled at, and you made him feel like complete shit over nothing. I’m the one that wanted to be friends again. If it wasn’t for me Beej would still be in the Netherworld staying a complete dimension away from this house! He didn’t even want to come here.”

Delia mouths “language” at her, but smiles. She stands up and pulls her daughter into her arms. Cradling her head against her chest and placing a hand on top of her head. 

“I’m sorry.” Delia offers. “You shouldn’t feel like you have to hide anything from us and I’m sorry we didn’t listen to you.” Delia looks over at Charles, who looks lost at what to do. Adam knows and he joins Delia in a group hug, wrapping them both into his chilly arms but strong arms. 

“He really means a lot to you, huh.” He says softly. “I’m not gonna lie, I don’t get it and I don’t like it, and I don’t trust him; but you seem too and I trust you.” 

Lydia finally returns their gesture and hugs back. The words are nice but not entirely comforting. It doesn’t change much or take back the words Beetlejuice just had to endure. It’s not even an apology, but Lydia is too tired to keep arguing and be angry. She just wants to go talk to Beetlejuice. 

“Do you know where he ran off to?” Barbara asks, coming over to rub the back of her husband. “Maybe we should actually talk to him.”

“Yeah,” Lydia says but not offering anything else. “But I’ll talk to him. I doubt he wants to see any of you, and if you keep pushing he’ll get mad.”

“Okay,” Delia says letting her go. “Go on then, and we’ll discuss what to do while you're gone.” 

Lydia didn’t need to be told twice, and she immediately removes herself from the room and her family. Trying to block any of the words she barley catches as she ascends the stairs. She heads up into the attic. She doesn’t bother to turn on any of the light and heads to the one window that overlooks the roof. She struggles for a moment to open the rusty latch and push open the glass. The night is colder than it was before. The moon is high in the sky, with the stars peeking out behind ash grey clouds. It would be more enjoyable if Lydia's nose didn’t immediately start running and her skin blotching red under the bite of the wind. 

She walks a bit onto the tiles towards the chimney. A passing fear came over her at the thought he might not be here. She isn’t sure if he can physically leave the house or if he’s completely stuck here like the Maitlands. Her head peeks around the old brick and she lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Beetlejuice is laying down on his back, arms folded over his stomach, and his eyes closed in thought. His hair is still a deep blue with sea green tips. He is disturbingly serene looking and it fills the girl with unease. He doesn’t move or even looks at her when she approaches closer. Lydia is positive he knows she’s there. His hearing and his sense of smell far exceed humans. When she is about a foot away from him, she plops onto the tile and turns horizontally so she can lay on his stomach. 

“Oof.” He mumbles when Lydia’s head thumps into his side. He cracks his right eye open to look at her. “Hey, Lyds.”

“Hey.” She replies. “You okay?” 

“No.”

“Me neither.” 

They sit in silence for a few moments. Just enjoying the quiet. The air hurts, but Lydia refuses to move.

“So what now?” He finally asks. 

“I don’t know. They're talking downstairs.” Lydia sighs. “Can you leave? The house I mean.”

“I haven’t tried yet.” He sheepishly says. “Didn’t wanna leave without telling you anyway.” 

“Good thing the roof is always the best moping spot.” She says, tugging a smile out of him. “Whatever they decide on, we’ll deal with it together okay?" He simply answers with a head nod. “I’m not gonna let them do anything to you Beej.”

“I should be telling you that.” He says with a sad smile. “What a fucking mess.” 

“I’m sorry.” Lydia feels like she needs to say it. “I didn’t mean to call you here, I just panicked, and I messed everything up.”

“No.” He says taking his left hand to caress her hair. “They wouldn’t hate me so much if I wasn’t such a fuck up. I don’t blame them. I'd hate me too.” He says as if he already doesn’t.

“So much for what you had planned,” Lydia says instead of what she wants to. They're both too exhausted for that conversation. “All your hard work went to waste.”

“It wasn’t that much, really.” He replies. “It wasn’t really what I had planned that mattered.”

“What do you mean?” Lydia questions. 

“Uh.” He says, propping himself up onto his elbows, angling Lydia’s head towards her chest. He digs around into his jacket for a second before pulling out a small postcard-sized envelope. “I know it's not technically been long enough, but when you told me we weren’t going to see each other for a bit, I just thought...I mean...just... _here_.” He said quickly, passing the card into Lydia’s hands. 

Lydia opens the sleeve and pulls out a completely colored card with jagged hand-drawn black and white stripes with the words “ _Happy Friendaversary_ !”. She shakily opens the flap while hot tears start to fall when she reads “ _I am glad yuo summonde me after nearly a yera now! Thnak you for being my BFFFF_.” in his stupid wobbly and mispelled handwriting and for the first time that night she breaks down and cries. 

“Lyds?” Beetlejuice asks perturbed. 

She just laughs through her sobs and sits up to dig her head into his chest, wrapping her hands and the card around his back. “Happy friendaversary, Beej.” She weeps. He returns it, of course. The night air whips past them, and he holds her closer, trying to bleed whatever amount of heat his body has to keep her warm. He digs his face into her hair and clenches his eyes shut. He lets her cry as long as she needs to. Until her eyes hurt, and his arms ache, and his own salty tears threaten to drop from yellow eyes. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got real sad, real quick, but it's just a stepping stone to the much happier and fun chapters. I appreciate all the comments I've already received as well. Thank you so much.


	3. Tag, You're it

The Mainlands and the Deetz's all collapse onto pieces of furniture they can crawl to the quickest. The night has already dragged on far too long and other than the Maitlands, Delia and Charles are feeling the heavyweight of exhaustion on their bodies. Barbara and Adam share a worried look, grabbing onto each other's hands. The group has no idea how to broach the subject, but the silence is almost more suffocating. 

"What are we going to do?" Barbara said after she heard the receding steps of Lydia running up the stairs. "Lydia is very...adamant about this." 

"I can't believe it's Beetlejuice," Adam says flabbergasted. "Out of everything I thought she was doing, visiting that...that demon was not one of them!" 

"But you saw it, didn't you?" Delia interjects. "The way they act around each other, they've become really close." 

"I don't even know if Beetlejuice can get close to anyone," Barbara argues. "He could be tricking her in some way. Using her for something. Maybe Charles is right, maybe he's just trying to crawl his way back in here." 

"He looked startled and scared," Delia says sadly. "I didn't see a master manipulator." He looked like a frightened child is what she wanted to say. 

"Lydia said she's been seeing him for nearly a year. That's an awfully long time to wait to spring a trap on us." Adam plays devil's advocate. 

"He's been around for centuries, time might not even matter to him the same way it does for us," Barabra argues. 

"What we do know is he's dangerous. He  _ is  _ capable of manipulating and he  _ is _ capable of murder. I don't want my daughter around that thing. He nearly killed us." Charles finally speaks up. 

"He also saved us," Adam says. "He killed his mom just to protect Lydia and right after she shoved Delia's statue through his chest." 

Lydia and the rest of the family are also completely capable of murder too, is the unspoken meaning behind Adam's words. They were cornered, and scared, and felt like it was the only option they had but was it really? Or was it a simple solution to a difficult problem? Adam thinks on this quite often when he lays awake at night, incapable of sleeping sometimes. It's always easy to say "it's my only option" but it's not as if Beetlejuice is an animal. He is a person, maybe not a human, but he was clearly suffering in some way and they used that against him. Yet he saved them anyway. 

"Exactly." Delia agrees. Charles opens his mouth to reply but Delia raises her hand gently to tell him to let her finish. "I'm not saying he's safe or even a person I'm entirely happy to see again " She continues. "But what is important is that we trust in Lydia. If she has confidence in him, then I'm willing to at least give him a try. He doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"You can't be suggesting what I think you are." Charles exasperates. 

"He'll stay here with us until he can find a way back home," Delia says with confidence. 

"But what if something happens? He's a menace and wild, and incredibly unpredictable." Barbara beats Charles to the criticism. Charles pointedly looks at Delia and gestures to Barbara aggressively to show he agrees.

"We can set up some house rules." Delia counters. We'll keep an eye on both of them, carefully. If he breaks them, he's out of this house for good." 

"I think we should do it." Adam assents. "We owe it to Lydia to at least try, even if we don't like it." 

"I don't think its a good idea. I just can't trust him." Barbara asserts. 

"I don't either." Adam sighs. "But we don't  _ really  _ know anything about him. Lydia has more reason to hate Beetlejuice than any of us do, but she's managed to forgive him. There has to be a reason for it." 

"Lydia is stronger than we believe, and I think we both know she's no pushover," Delia says grabbing onto Charles's hands. He looks down at her and she smiles. "I know you want to protect her, but part of having a child means letting them make their own decisions and trusting in them. If you kick that demon out of this house, she may never forgive you. It doesn't have to be forever, but please let her have the chance to show us why he is so important to her." 

Charles's shoulders sag in defeat and he looks away from Delia to mull it over. Beetlejuice didn't even really say anything when he was yelling at him and his first instinct was to flee. As much as the idea of having that entity in the house makes him incredibly uncomfortable and anxious, he also can't blatantly disregard Lydia's feelings either. She was right in one thing. None of this family got to see Beetlejuice in the way she had. He walked into the climax without any of the buildups, and from what the Maitlands' had retold they were only around him for a couple of hours. Lydia spent days with the demon and it has been a year. 

"Fine." He acquiesces. "But if he breaks even one rule, one time, he's gone; and I don't care where."

"Fair enough!" Delia exclaims happily. 

Truth be told it was rather exciting, if slightly frightening. She supposes their life has become dull in the months that's passed since Beetlejuice's last visit. He is an odd character that's for sure. She isn't expecting the next few days or weeks to be easy, but they'll make do. They have too. 

"We'll go find Lydia and Beetlejuice then," Barabra says, pulling her husband up with her. "It's so late now. I think we should all retire and go over everything else in the morning. We will tell the two what's going on and then shoo Lydia off to bed as well."

"Good idea." Charles yawns, already standing to bend back and snap his back and neck. "I should have been asleep a long time ago." 

"Thank you." Delia smiles. "You can tell Beetlejuice he can take the guest bedroom upstairs if he wants." With that, the Deetz's' wave goodnight to the couple and ascend upstairs and into their bedroom. They can see the upstairs hallway light flick off, and the house settles into ambient silence. 

"I don't like this," Barbara says to Adam. 

"I know but we'll get through it." He says pulling his wife in by the hips to kiss her nose. "Let's just go make sure Lydia is alright and we'll take it day by day, alright?" Barbara nods, slightly pouting, and allows Adam to lead her back up the stairs after the Deetz's'.

  
  


* * *

Lydia has fallen asleep, spectacularly, on Beetlejuice's shoulder. He knows it must be freezing for her, but she is so exhausted sleep won out over warmth. He doubts he's providing any sufficient heat, so he picks her up into his arms and carefully stands on the roof. She doesn't stir at all. He walks the girl over to the attic window, hesitating at first to re-enter the house again. His desire to help Lydia outweighs his fear of the family, however.

Beetlejuice doesn't have the luxury to phase through the wall with a breather in his arms, so he has to carefully maneuver himself through the small gap, which is quite difficult. His broader body jams several times into the edges, and he smacks his head once into the glass. Glaring at the wall, he makes everything but his arms translucent and eases Lydia through the window while the rest of his body simply phases through, cursing because he should have just done that from the beginning. 

Luckily he remembers where Lydia's room is, even after the chaos they were causing those amazing three days. He stumbles his way through the attic and downstairs, trying to stay as quiet as possible. The hallway is dark and the shadows around them even disappear into the overall black of the room. The moon is too far overhead to cast any significant light in through the small window at the end of the hallway, and Beetlejuice is disguised around it all comfortably. Beetlejuice can see perfectly fine regardless of all the darkness. 

He is reaching for the kid's door handle when a sudden gasp startles him, a second time that night. He fumbles backward, nearly dropping Lydia, and looks over to see the Maitlands standing still a few feet away. Adam looks frightened and keeps looking directly at Beetlejuice's eyes. It is starkly obvious they didn't know his eyes illuminate in the dark. The glint of them in the shadows probably took them unawares. 

"Beetlejuice?" Barbara softly asks, troubled. Suddenly the light flicks on in the hallway after Adam scrambled for the switch. Beetlejuice squints as the rays settle on his irises. "Oh thank god." 

"Shhh," Beetlejuice whispers. He nods down at the still, shockingly, sleeping girl in his arms. 

"Oh, I'm sor…" Beetlejuice cuts her off by motioning his hand flat against his neck horizontally and frowning. 

Beetlejuice quickly snaps so the bedroom door opens and he hastily goes inside to lay the girl down onto her bed, tucking her into her three-layered covers. Lydia likes to keep her bed the same way at his place. He remembers her dragging a whole pile of blankets over one night, and dropping them onto the bed in his house, declaring the room as her own. He laughed, not even bothered by it, because that room was going unused and Lydia knew it. Hell, Beetlejuice doesn't even use his own room. 

He floats the rest of the way out, so his heels don't clank against the hardwood. He lands outside the door and pulls it shut. The Maitlands are waiting for him outside, huddled together. 

"What?" He says, tired. 

"We just wanted to talk a bit." Adam walks forward first, prompting Beetlejuice to step back. "We're sorry for how all that went down earlier. We could have definitely handled that better." 

"Got your point across didn't it?" Beetlejuice replies flatly. "Doesn't matter how you word it, it all means the same thing." 

"It does matter." Barbara joins her husband. "Look we've all started off on a really, **_really_** , bad foot, but Lydia seems to truly care about you." 

"So for now, we have all decided that you can stay. Since it seems like you can't go home." Adam says smiling. 

"So what?" Beetlejuice asks, apprehensive. "You scream at me and call me a shithead and now you wanna share a house together? Are you out of your fucking minds? Do I look stupid to you?"

"What? No! We just wanted to...look we decided to give Lydia a chance. You a chance." Barbara explains quickly, eyeing the roots of Beetlejuice's hair teetering into orange. 

"We are all willing to try this out if you are." Adam helps. "At least until you can find a way back into the Netherworld." 

"So it's all for the kid?" Beetlejuice grumbles, his hair sinking back into a plum color. He gets it, but it still kind of hurts. 

"Beetlejuice …" Adam softly calls, catching on to the sudden slump of the demon's ears and shoulders, but Beetlejuice aggressively turns his face away effectively quieting him. 

"Fine." Beetlejuice spits. "But only for the kid. She'd double kill me if I just up and left anyway." 

"Great!" Both the Maitlands cheer. Even in his sullen stupor, the dweebs are still adorably huggable. 

"There is a guest bedroom you can stay in for now..." 

Beetlejuice tunes Barbara out and strides over to the wall. He places his hands on the wallpaper, digging his sharp nails into the drywall, and starts to climb up, with every intention of returning to the roof. He is not going to stay in a building with a bunch of people who hate him, unless Lydia is meditating the interactions or if it’s absolutely unavoidable. Staying in a room not only gives the Deetz and Maitland members access to him easily, but the idea of trying to pretend like he's one of the family is shockingly revolting. Especially since he knows it'll never happen. He's not going to be that pathetic and desperate, again. It's better to be the weirdo on the roof than the loser with family issues. 

"Beetlejuice." She reprimands but is equally confused. "What are you doing?" 

"Going back to the roof." He answers sardonically. 

"But you can use the guest bedroom," Adam replies wildered. 

"I don't want to." He says, continuing his crawl up until his head pokes through the ceiling. 

"You can't sleep on the roof. That can't be comfortable." Barbara argues. Beetlejuice dramatically sighs and crawls down just enough to look down at the Maitlands annoyed. 

"I don't sleep and it isn't about comfort. I don't wanna be in this house unless Lyds is awake. I'm not gonna let you guys sit there and pretend to like me. So I'm going to the roof." He crawls the rest of the way up and outside, but he quickly turns around and sticks his head through the ceiling from above them. "Also FYI I  _ like  _ the roof. Its the most comfortable place about this fucking house." Then he rescinds his head, not caring how the Maitlands' react. 

He isn't lying either. Beetlejuice has never been fond of traditionally comfortable places. Soft beds make him feel like he's drowning, and while he can tolerate a soft couch or chair, he prefers hard surfaces. Wood, the ground, rocks, or cramped small spaces, and the roof is perfect. It's open enough to allow him to breathe and the rough sandpaper-like tiles are better to him than any thousand thread count sheets and pillows. 

He also wasn't fibbing when he claimed he doesn't sleep either. Lydia has asked about it before, and he always says the same thing. It's a waste of time. He doesn't need sleep, and wouldn't even know where to begin trying it. It's not a usual routine, by any means, for a demon. He gets that ghosts do it because they slept when they were alive, it's a habitual thing, but Beetlejuice can think of a thousand different things to get up to rather than wasting over eight hours unconscious. 

Except for now. He is perfectly content to lay on the slant of the roof and just listen to the sounds of a crisp winter night. The cold isn't particularly comfortable, but it is not as devastating as it can be to a breather. He can ignore it for the most part. He eventually hears the Maitlands rustling around in the attic before the light flickers off and everything fades away into silence again. Normally Beetlejuice wouldn't give himself enough time to get lost in his thoughts. Oftentimes their unsavory and the memories there are distressing. However, tonight his head is rarely quiet. Perhaps his core is just as exhausted as Lydia's body is. 

So he stays there throughout the night and early morning. Staring at the stars and letting time quickly pass by him. 

... 

Lydia awakes to muffled fighting. She cracks a groggy eye open and groans when daylight burns her pupil through the window. She's in her bed, nearly sweating from the heat produced by her pile of blankets. She kicks them off to enjoy the cold air that's leaked into her bedroom. She is positive that she fell asleep on the roof last night. Which meant either Beetlejuice or one of her parents carried her back down into her bedroom. 

The sounds of bickering are still echoing up through her door and the memories of last night come flooding in. Her adrenaline spikes and she bolts from her bed and towards her door, afraid that Beetlejuice is under another verbal attack from her family. She clambers down the stairs. They are not in the living room as she suspected so she immediately swings through the kitchen door open where she is met with the looks of her parents and a very agitated Beetlejuice. 

Her father and Delia are situated at the kitchen table, while the Maitlands are side by side near the door, closest to Lydia. Beetlejuice is lazily hanging in the air, near the counters, disgruntled but thankfully not distraught. He looks the way he does when Ginger is lecturing him again. 

"There you are, sweety." Delia greets her. "I was just about to go wake you." 

"Uh, what's going on?" Lydia asks perplexed. Last time the family and demon were together in a room, her parents were practically going after his head. 

"I'm being accosted is what's going on," Beetlejuice complains. 

"We are trying to set up some house rules," Barbara explains, shooting Beetlejuice a stern look. "We've decided to let him stay for now." 

"Really?" Lydia shrieks happily. 

"Yes, but it comes with conditions." Charles sneers. 

"We are having difficulty getting him to agree to a particular rule," Delia says. "It would be best if he learns how to bath regularly." She curls her lip. 

"Not happening." Beetlejuice quickly rejects. 

"You're filthy!" Barbara yells, impatient. "You're covered in dirt and moss, and lord knows what else. We can't have you walking around this house smelling like a wet dog." 

Lydia walks over to Beetlejuice's side and makes a show of smelling his jacket's sleeve. Beetlejuice arches an eyebrow at her, curious. 

"Nah, he still smells like a freshly rained garden." She says shooting him a thumbs up. He returns it smirking.

"That's not really any better." Delia sighs. "I'd prefer the smell like lavender or Irish spring. Any kind of body wash, to be honest." 

"I'm not doing it. I hate baths." He groans. 

"You're an adult! You should be taking care of your personal hygiene!" Barbara howls. 

"Guys, guys." Lydia pleads. "You're going at this the wrong way. Beej is a demon. Things don't always work the same way with him." 

She explains this by digging her nails into the exposed skin of Beetlejuice's wrist and cracking a small piece of hardened dirt and mud from it. It's taken on the color of his complexion and looks almost like she's ripped a chunk of his flesh off of his body. Like breaking plastic from a doll. She holds the piece up to her family, watching as their brows knit together in confusion and disgust. 

"This stuff is like a second skin to him or like a shell. Taking a bath with soaps not only washes it away but the ingredients in body wash can severely irritate his skin. Trust me, I've seen it. It's not pretty." 

"Why do you need that?" Adam asks bewildered. "You're a spirit. Why do you need a second skin of dirt?" 

"It's not for normal ghosts. You think the Netherworld is just full of dead humans?" Beetlejuice defends himself. "Ghosts aren't even a hundred percent safe either. You have no fucking idea what dangers lurk down there." He explains angrily. "Also my skin has done this since I came into existence. The bottom layer of all that crud actually helps keep my skin hydrated while the top layer is hard, but not like metal hard." 

"Like chitin," Lydia suggests.

"Yeah, like whatever the hell that is." Beetlejuice agrees, crossing his arms. 

"This isn't actually all that dirty either," Lydia says, squeezing the small piece between her fingers, the shell not moving an inch. "Once it's settled on his skin it practically  _ is _ his skin. It's all the new dirt that makes him smell horrible. I just wash him off with a hose whenever it gets too bad." 

"You're not in the Netherworld though. Why not clean it off for now?" Delia bemoans. 

"How about you take your clothes off?" Beetlejuice replies. Delia's face twists into repulsion and embarrassment, her cheeks inflaming red. "That! That feeling right there is the equivalent of asking me to wash off my skin." 

"Okay, point taken," Barbara says mirthless. 

"Then would you at least take a shower? No soaps or anything, just water." Adam pleads. "Not every day but at least once a week." 

"Every two weeks and you got yourself a deal." Beetlejuice finally concedes. 

"Good." Delia sighs, brushing the fringes of her hair back into her messy bun. "So far we have "No Violence or Threats of Violence", "Refrain from Vulgar Suggestions or Language"." Beetlejuice snorts at that one but doesn't say anything more. "No Inappropriate Touching" and "Regular Showers at Least Once Every Two Weeks". Is there anything else someone would like to add?" 

"Man, I'm loving this whole list of everything BJ shouldn't do." Beetlejuice mocks. 

"Would you like to add any rules for us then?" Delia proposes. "After all it's only fair since we're expecting so much out of you." Beetlejuice seems legitimately taken aback by that. Not expecting anyone to pay attention to his whining. 

"No." He mumbles. "It's fine." 

"It's okay Beej," Lydia tells him. "You're allowed to have boundaries too." 

"Then." He pauses for a second. "I don't like you guys saying my name and I don't want it said three times either. Even saying it one time still pulls at me and it's distracting." 

"I thought that didn't work?" Charles says with his brow raised. 

"It won't work to send me away, but you can still summon me in general," Beetlejuice explains. 

"It's the intent that matters dad," Lydia adds. "What if I really need you though?" Lydia asks, looking at Beetlejuice. 

"You can still summon me if it's an emergency, you little dork." He answer's rubbing Lydia's hair into a mess. She attempts to swat his hand away. 

"Does finding a hornet's nest count as an emergency?" She teases, knowing full well they are one of Beetlejuice's favorite snacks. He likes the crunch of their stingers. 

"...yes." 

"Then what should we call you?" Barbara interrupts with her inquiry. 

"Lawrence?" Adam proposes. 

" **No!** " Beetlejuice hisses, startling the family. "No, no. Not Lawrence." He adds a little more calmly after visibly waving himself off the sudden outburst. "Just a nickname is fine." 

"Yeah. I call him Beej or Bj. Sometimes The Juice Man." Lydia giggles, fixing her hair. 

"Alright," Delia says writing away at the notepad laying out in front of her. 

Lydia reaches behind Beetlejuice and grabs for an apple in the fruit basket under the kitchen window. She takes two of them and takes a quick bite out of one while offering Beetlejuice the other. He eyes the fruit for a second before opening his maw, crooked front teeth, sharp fangs and molars on display, and bites away half of the apple in the girl's hand. Stem, core, and all. Her family watches this happen with perplexed and unsettled looks. 

"Wait?" Barbara whispers. "You can eat the food?" 

"I can eat anything," Beetlejuice mumbles around the apple in his mouth. 

"But, we can't, " Adam says sadly. 

"No shit." Beetlejuice swallows before adding. "You're ghosts. The best you guys get is the little prop drinks and food in the Netherworld. Though I don't see the point. It's not real." 

"Then why are you eating?" Barbara bites back. 

"I have too." Beetlejuice states matter of factly. 

"Why would a demon need to eat?" She persists. "You don't even have a real body."

"First off, rude. Second off, why does a human need to eat?" He asks. "Energy." He answers immediately. 

"Energy?" Adam asks baffled. 

"Yeah, it's how I use all my amazing abilities. Well most of them anyway."

"How does that work?" He ponders. 

"Don't know," Beetlejuice replies, throwing the rest of the apple into his mouth. 

"Can you ever explain anything coherently?" Barbara exasperates.

"No." Beetlejuice answers in a high pitch and the Maitlands groan loudly. “Look, I’m not interested in being all buddy-buddy with you losers. I’ll follow your rules, but if you wanna know anything about me, ask the kid.” Beetlejuice jabs his thumb towards Lydia. “It’s not my job to update you guys on how demons work.” 

"Lydia isn't a demon either," Barabra says unrelenting. 

"Okay, you guys. Play nice." Lydia reprimands them. 

"It's all good anyway." Delia smiles while standing. "These are very basic rules, and we can add more if need be, later." She strides over to the fridge and places the list on the front with a small "I heart NYC" magnet. "

"And if even one, of these rules, are broken, you're leaving this house forever. I don't care how you leave or where you end up." Charles warns. 

"Yeah. I hear you loud and clear Chuck." Beetlejuice replies disgruntled. 

Sometimes Lydia wonders why Beetlejuice lets himself be treated this way. Some people can not even dream of berating Beetlejuice out of fear of relation from him. Tim and Ginger take their shots where they can, but they don't actively target or start arguments with him. He wouldn't allow it. Then there are people like her father, authoritative or parental figures, and Beetlejuice just crumbles under them. Lydia hates to think about the implications of this. 

"Come on Beej!" Lydia says grabbing a hold of his sharp fingers. "Let's see if you can go into the back yard. I wanna show you those worms." 

"But what if I can't?" He replies with his ears drooping down, but he lets Lydia drag him along like a balloon anyway. "Sandworms, Lyds." 

"It'll be fine," She reassures him. "Even if you end up on Saturn, you can just fly back here or find Sandy." 

"There are hundreds of Sandworms! Who knows if I can find her!" Beetlejuice whines. 

"Come on!" Lydia stresses, dragging him into the living room and away from the rest of her family. 

She stops them at the foot of the stairs and tells him to wait for her. She rushes upstairs, nearly tripping over the corner around the hallway, and rushes inside her room. She disposes of the old clothes on her back and throws them into a small hamper in the corner near her double door closet. Lydia yanks a pair of black denim shorts and a simple ash-colored turtleneck out of her closest and tosses them on. She takes a quick glance in her mirror. 

Lydia's hair has been growing out, no longer sitting at the length of her neck. She normally tosses a section of her hair into a messy bun, but considering her and Beetlejuice may be scrounging around in the dirt, she won't bother. It's a killer to take out when she's got grime caked in it. Looking at her tired eyes and pale skin, Lydia is reminded of the reality of the situation. She can hardly believe her parents are allowing Beetlejuice to stay, especially after last night. She knows their both on thin ice though. She's sure her father and the Maitlands are just waiting for one wrong move. The most concerning part is that Beetlejuice is full of them. 

The demon is an agitator, he takes pleasure from deriving fear and panic. It's fun for him. The giant bug man can hardly standstill, so it'll be a test of patience and endurance on her family's part to withstand their new house guest. However, it'll be even more of a challenge for Beetlejuice. He doesn't have rules, at least not stated ones. He likes to push boundaries, test the waters by canon-balling into the pool, so Lydia is half expecting this opportunity to go, in Beetlejuice's own words, balls up.

Though, seeing the Maitlands and her father scramble to figure out how to exorcise a demon would be pretty entertaining, considering there isn't one. Not really anyway. Beetlejuice has explained many things to her about his species, if they can be considered that, in confidence. Each demon has a unique trigger or summoning ritual that calls or banishes them, and only the living can do this. Oftentimes, it's the entity's name, but it can be an object, phrase, sacrifice, or symbol as well, and they are violently protective of this information. Demons who are tied by their name will always go by a nickname or forgery. Juno really cheated Beetlejuice by tying his curse specifically to his name, making it easier to extort his weakness and send him away, but with the Netherworld closed off to him Beetlejuice cannot technically be kicked out of anywhere. 

That at least puts Lydia at ease. So she makes her way out of her room. She combs her fingers through her hair on the way back down the steps, finding knots in the slowly growing strands. Beetlejuice is still hovering by the banister. He is leaning backward with his legs crossed and arms behind his head. She skips past him and makes for the back door and swings it open. 

The day is sunny, with sparse grey clouds overhead, and a gentle cold breeze. She hears Beetlejuice's feet hit the floor and clank up behind her. He peeks his head out over hers and watches the scenery cautiously. Since their house is located on a hill their yards are very small. The Maitlands had planted a fence of lilac, holly, and myrtle bushes that keep a very snug garden contained against the slope of the hill. There is a small stone birdbath located in the middle, with large empty flower beds resting under the sides of the shrubbery. She steps outside onto the porch and walks down the two stairs that lead out onto the grass. 

“Barbara and Adam can’t even leave the door.” She says to Beetlejuice. “Well?” She watches him. 

Beetlejuice stays and continues to eye the porch only a centimeter away from the front of his foot. He kicks at the still of the door, contemplating. He eventually shrugs his shoulders and inhumanely stretches his left leg out over the threshold and over to Lydia and steps softly onto fading drooping grass beneath it. Nothing happens.

"Huh?" Beetlejuice huffs, his body whipping forward to join his meter long limb. "Well, this blows any theory I had straight out of the water." 

"Like what?" Lydia asks laughing in relief. 

'It would make sense if I was tied to the house. I did technically die there." Beetlejuice explains, confused. "But I can't think of why I'm stuck here, but not there." Beetlejuice points at the sky first, then aggressively at the house. "That makes no sense at all." 

"I'm sure whatever issue you're having up here will come to light sooner or later. Ms. Argentina will start wondering where you've run off too eventually. The council is going to shit their pants trying to figure out what you're scheming." Lydia reassures him. "Someone is bound to notice the local nuisance disappeared." 

"Nuisances', thank you." Beetlejuice snorts. "Don't pretend like you didn't shove all those centipedes in Tim's hat the other night, and with your own hands!" Beetlejuice wiggles his fingers at her, making Lydia laugh and slap his hands away. 

"It wasn't easy. You ate nearly half the jar I brought with me." 

"You can't get those in the Netherworld! It was too tempting." 

"Beej, everything is tempting for you." 

"Gotta eat, babes." Beetlejuice shrugs his shoulders in response and smirks. 

"Well come here then. I bet you'll love these earthworms!" Lydia runs over to the bushes. 

Beetlejuice and Lydia spend the rest of the morning digging around the various bushes in the garden. Either she mistook the location of the annelids or they migrated somewhere else. It had taken so long to find the first batch that Beetlejuice had started salivating at the sight of them, and shoved a copious amount into his face. Lydia was wheezing, watching him go nearly face-first into the soil like a snow fox hunting mice. Her arms are caked in cold mud and dirt by the time Delia made her way outside to call for her. 

"Lydia! You should come inside and get started working on your history assignment." She says, stopping at the door. She looks down to see Lydia's filthy state and frowns. "And take a shower." 

"Ugh, okay." Lydia grunts standing up from the ground. Her knees wobbled in pain before her circulation started to pump through her system again. 

"Where is Beetljui...oh, I mean Bj?" Delia asks. 

Just then Beetlejuice's head pops up out of the ground like a mole, mouth full of earthworms and a couple of cicadas. His hair is dusted in dirt and grass. Delia shrieks and stumbles backward startled. 

"I thought you were on summer break?" He asks, quickly swallowing his meal. 

"Yeah, but I have some assignments that were assigned during the holiday," Lydia explains, unbothered. 

"Boring." He declares. 

Beetlejuice shimmies his arms out of the ground and pushes his thick shoulders out and easily slides his knees back onto the grass. He then shakes off the excess dirt from his body, like a dog. 

"Beej!" Lydia yells, guarding her face and eyes against the onslaught of filth. Beetlejuice lets out a breathy laugh. 

Lydia surprisingly hears the soft chuckle of Delia from the doorway, silently watching them. Lydia quickly stands up and dusts off her shorts and sweater before running towards her stepmother. Beetlejuice does the same, but he hesitantly follows behind her, more than a little apprehensive to step back inside the house again. Delia gives a soft smile, and that gives him enough permission to follow Lydia all the way inside. 

"Wait for me in the living room. I'll be back down soon." Lydia tells him, and he just silently nods his head and watches her disappear upstairs. 

Lydia quickly enters the bathroom, adjacent to her room and hopes into the shower and washes all the mud and anxiety from the past two days away from her body. When she reenters her bedroom wrapped in a navy blue towel, she quickly throws on an outfit similar to the one this morning and shoves all of her study materials into her arms. She doesn't bother combing her hair, because she doesn't want Beetlejuice to be alone for too long on his first day in the house. 

Lydia smiles when she rounds the corner into the living space, seeing Beetlejuice situated on the large leg rest, picking at his black nails to keep busy. The Maitlands are awkwardly sitting on the couch, badly sneaking glances at the demon, and pretending to study the "The Handbook for the Recently Deceased". He is ignoring them quite well. 

Lydia goes to sit at the end of the couch, sandwiched between Beetlejuice and the Maitlands. Her father would have already left for work by now. Delia suddenly makes an appearance, holding a sketchbook, more than likely attempting to figure out her new sculpture design. She sits in the last individual chair near the fireplace. Lydia is just about to lay out her notebooks and history hardcover, when an old clock on the wall, the Maitlands insisted they hang up, started ringing off the time as noon. 

Beetlejuice groans loudly, sagging in his seat and looking longingly at the clock. "You never really know what you have until it's gone." He groans. 

It takes a moment for Lydia to work out his meaning. She looks at the clock again, and letting out a little sigh, realizing his qualm. She tosses her supplies onto the couch and stands up. 

"A nice toasty desert, scorching sun rays, skin melting…" Beetlejuice laments, as Lydia walks up behind him and takes his shoulder between his arms to drag him off of the footrest.

He continues his whining, drawing the confused attention of the family. Lydia struggles to drag the heavy entity over to the west side window and lay him on the floor under the seal, on his back. She pulls up the shudders to allow the sunlight to bleed onto the spot, directly on top of Beetlejuice. She then gathers her school supplies into her arms and sets up a small area around Beetlejuice and leans against his side, adjusting her body into a comfortable position. 

When the warmth finally starts to settle into his skin, Beetlejuice lets out a low rumble and closes his eyes to twist his face to allow one particular side to soak up as much heat as it can. 

"Warm enough?" Lydia asks curiously. She peeks out the window to see the clouds have completely dissipated, allowing the sun to be unobstructed. 

Beetlejuice simply purrs in response, opting to turn his face the other way now. This is the closest to rest Beetlejuice gets. He likes to sunbathe at particular times, at least twice a day, when his body temperature starts to run cooler than what he's comfortable with. He doesn't technically fall asleep, more a torpor, and he is entirely cognitive. Lydia can talk to him if she really wants to, but it's oddly tranquil to sit with him like this. 

Lydia tucks her feet under herself and gets to work on her project. Letting the soft but forceful vibration of Beetlejuice's chest and warmth of the sun on her back lull her into a relaxed state. Her family cautiously watches her a moment before continuing with their own activities. Slightly relaxed to see the demon relatively quiet. Delia tries not to comment on his purring, opting to take the silence while it lasts, but by her smile, Lydia can tell she more than likely thinks it's oddly endearing. 

By the time the sun passes far above the house, casting the duo into a much colder spot, Beetlejuice is curled up on his side away from Lydia, his ears down, eyes closed, and hair bright neon green. Lydia has made a decent amount of progress. Delia had left a few minutes ago to disappear into the kitchen, and the Maitlands are silently enjoying each other's presence while reading their book. 

"Beej?" Lydia calls him after his rumbling has ceased under her. His ears perk up at her voice, but he doesn't turn toward her. "You're old." 

"Rude." He mumbles. 

"How much about our history do you know?" Lydia asks. 

"Probably more than any breather." He says, finally rotating towards her, and propping his head onto his hand under him. "It'll still be pretty biased though." 

"Were you around during the black plague?" 

"Boy was I!" He snickers. "Ma was pulling her hair out, the Netherworld was so disastrously busy. I was still topside though. Whaddya want to know?" 

"Well, our project is a presentation on a major world event of our choice." She starts. 

"And you chose the most depressing and disgusting of them all?" He interrupts. "I'm so proud." His voice quivers, while a third arm manifests from his left ribcage to dab at his tearless eyes. 

"Shut up." Lydia laughs. "Did you get to see any of the infected people up close?" 

"Sure did." He replies. Instead of his third appendage disappearing back into his body, the arm drapes over his side much like his left one. "Though I doubt I can tell you much you don't already know." 

"I'm just having trouble figuring out how to describe it," Lydia says tapping her pencil against the history book. The book gives me the symptoms and some drawn illustrations, but it's not a lot to go off of." 

"It's not pretty," Beetlejuice warns. "Lots of ghosts floating around the Netherworld looking like giant black billy balls." 

'What about the living ones?" Lydia asks curiously. 

"Just bad." He answers. "Men, women, and children groaning, families crying, and the air smelling sickly sweet with the pungent odor of mud, piss, and feces. Old rotting wood, salty tears, and the ground tasted bad." He says, lost in thought. 

"Hm, nevermind," Lydia says quickly, looking at the distant look on Beetlejuice's face. "I don't wanna know after all." 

"It was pretty neat." Beetlejuice shakes off the memory. Lydia scoffs at him but doesn't reply to that. 

"How's it going, sweety?" Barbara calls over to her. 

"Good," Lydia replies. "I just have the closing statements left for the draft." She starts to pack everything back up. 

"Great!" She praises. "Do you mind doing us a favor? We need some more model paint from Johnson's shop in town. Do you think you can buy us some?" 

Luckily for the Maitlands, their inheritance was not given away in any specific will, so their lifetime funds were still sitting in their bank account completely untouched. They have shared their account number so Charles could deplete their savings and stash their money away in the house. This allows the family members to buy the couple all their knickknacks without them resorting to begging her parents for money. 

"Sure." She says. "We can go now." Lydia catches the furrow in Barbara's brows at the term we, but she doesn't say anything. 

Lydia gets up to drop the books off at the coffee table at the Maitland's knees and walks back over to Beetlejuice. He watches her approach, and eyes her like he's reading her mind. She bends down in front of Beetlejuice's face and settles him with the most passive deadpanned look she can muster. 

"Hey Beej." She says. 

"What?" He says in an accusatory tone. 

Lydia very quickly, as fast as she can manage, smashes her hand directly into the demon's face and lunges away from his swipe she suspected was coming. His nails narrowly miss her, and she sprints for the front door. 

"Tag!" She screams, never halting her escape. 

She looks back for a second and sees Beetlejuice crawling at her, now with four arms, across the floor as fast as he can manage. Which is pretty damn fast. She bolts out the door and out into the yard. Playing tag with Beetlejuice is frankly terrifying, but that is what makes it fun. He could easily win, but he always holds back to make sure Lydia has a fair chance. He catches her every once in a while, but he never hurts her. He'll usually just tackle her down, using his broad form to take most of the fall or carry her off into the air like a toddler. Beetlejuice understands the chase is far more exciting than winning the game. 

Lydia heads towards her bike, parked on the side of the porch under the railing. She hears Beetlejuice burst out through the door, his multiple limbs scratching against the wood. That sound alone pumped enough adrenaline through Lydia's veins that she throws her bike forward, and runs with it before taking off down the hill. Hardly caring about the speed she is descending at. 

"Cheater!" Beetlejuice screams behind her, but he is still uncannily close for how fast she's going. 

"You can fly!" She yells back defensively. 

"Oh yeah." She hears his voice whisper into her ear. 

Lydia wrenches her handle away to take her bike as far away from the howling entity that had been only centimeters away from her. She slides right behind a tree the whips past her and she focuses on just not crashing. With Beetlejuice not on the ground, it's hard to pay attention to where he could be around her. The front wheel of her bike finally rolls onto level ground, and she keeps her momentum by peddling further into the town. She can hear his unsettling whispers around her, which normally means he's underground and casting his voice around the air. 

She peddles her bike hard until her thighs and calfs hurt. She skids across the asphalt of the parking lot to the little craft store situated snuggly between the town's movie theater and hardware shop. Everything in town, save for a few major corporations, is mainly small business owners. It gives the area a very old and traditional feeling amongst the citizens. 

She quickly dismounts the cycle and runs toward the store entrance. Just as she reaches for the handle, she feels the asphalt crumble away under her, her body swaying side to side as she fights to maintain her balance. For a split second, she feels the sharp nails of Beetlejuice's hand crawl up her ankles like tiny spiders, but instead of pulling her down, as is his normal style, he jumps up from the ground, pulling the teenager into a rough bear hug, snorting with laughter. 

"Tag, you're it!" He yells happily. 

"Okay!" Lydia echoes his joy. "Okay, you win you creep!" 

Beetlejuice lets Lydia drop back down onto the pavement, and turns around to kick the rocks into the hole he leaped up from. Filling the pavement in like nothing had happened. He tucks his hands inside his pant pockets and arches head toward the door with a smile. Lydia opens the door and walks quietly inside the establishment, Beetlejuice following behind and trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible. A broad framed, pointy-eared, green-haired, mossed covered, average man. 

It doesn't take any time at all to find the paint and check out. Beetlejuice enjoyed looking around like a dazzled toddler and touched just about everything he could. He was aching to squirt the paints into his mouth by the time they made it up to the register, confusing and scaring the poor old man that runs the shop every day. 

"Thank you!" Lydia yells as she leaves through the entrance. The elder waves her off with a gentle smile. 

"So is this for those losers model-whatever?" Beetlejuice asks waiting while Lydia mounts her bike and sets off. He follows in the air behind her, not caring if anyone sees him. Breathers always mark it off as a sleep-induced hallucination or some other such nonsense. 

"Yeah." She says, taking the ride easier this time. Her legs are still screaming. "Hey, I wanna show you something!" She says, turning off onto a route towards a thin gathering of woods. 

He follows her without question, and Lydia leads the demon a little further in until she rides up in a rusted and decomposing rod iron gate. The trees around them are lifeless and soaked in pale greys and browns. The air is becoming colder as the sun begins to set lower on the horizon. Falling behind the winding finger-like branches of the trees. Lydia gets off her bike and throws the object to the ground and walks inside the small fenced-in area. 

"I found this one day after school. I was taking pictures, and this was a goldmine!" She says twirling around. "I come here sometimes to be alone and get away from my parents. It's quiet, you know?"

It's a graveyard and an incredibly old one. It looks abandoned and no groundskeeper has touched this place in a few good decades. Old crudely carved gravestones line each other in a row. Age has made a majority of them illegible, and some of the plot stones have completely crumbled around the soil. The ground around them now belongs to the weeds and creeping vines. 

"Beej?" Lydia asks, stopping and looking his way. 

Beetlejuice looks on edge. His ears are taut against his head and his eyes are scanning the area with an almost predatory gaze. He is biting his lip again. Lydia's never seen him like this before. He seems like he could pounce on something any minute now. 

"Beej?" She asks again. "What's wrong?" He looks at her, and his eyes soften, but his body is still very clearly tense. 

"Something doesn't feel right. This place is bad." He explains, but it doesn't help Lydia understand. 

"What do you mean? I've been here multiple times before. Nothing's ever happened." She tries to reassure him lightheartedly. 

"I'm serious Lyds." He stresses. "It feels wrong. It smells wrong. Like rotting death." 

Lydia can't possibly begin to decipher what he means, but if he's this anxious about it then she's not going to force him to stay. His eyes have been darting around the grounds this entire time, looking for any tiny sign of movement. 

"Okay, then let's go." She says, pulling at him to follow her. 

He eyes the area the entire time she takes to mount her bike and ride off. He even lags behind a few seconds, protectively allowing Lydia a head start to guard her back. She isn't sure what Beetlejuice is expecting to happen, and in all honesty, she's a bit scared to ask. He eventually catches up with her when she makes it back out onto the main road. She peeks his way and he looks less ready to fight, and poutier now. 

"I'm sorry" he quickly says. "I know you were excited about showing me that place. I just…" 

"It's okay dude, really." She replies. "Whatever it was really had you on edge, so it's fine. Just let's put it behind us for now and go give the Maitlands there paints. I bet if you ask nicely they'll let you eat some." 

"You think?" Beetlejuice says immediately cheering up. "I bet Adam will puke if I do." 

They laugh, but inside Lydia is in turmoil. All she can see is Beetlejuice's guarded face, his pencil-thin pupils and bared teeth, and outstretched claws. She can't help but think about what could have possibly caused it. She can tell Beetlejuice isn't entirely relaxed either. She can see his eyes peering behind them and beside them cautiously. 

The girl doesn't feel entirely safe again until she's walking in through her house's front door and being patted on the head by Adam for running their chores. Beetlejuice slumps in behind her and deflates in the corner of the entranceway. His eyes droop softly, finally being able to let his guard down. 

"I'm not gonna lie." Adam laughs softly, taking the bag from her. "I nearly had a heart attack watching Beej chase you the way he did." 

"It's just a game," Lydia reassures him. "He'd never hurt me. We do it all the time." 

"Still." Adam sighs. "Do you wanna come upstairs and help us? Beej can come to if he wants." 

Lydia glances over at Beetlejuice. He is in need of a distraction just as much as she is. "Sure." She replies. 

Lydia can't think about the graveyard all day, and neither can he. She'll muster the courage to ask about it later, but for now, she is more than content in spending the rest of the evening performing the tedious and mundane with the Maitlands. When she tells Beetlejuice this after Adam went upstairs, he is thankfully just as happy with the idea. They both soon head towards the attic for some goof quality Maitland bonding time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am recently going through a herniated disk, and all I've been able to do for days is lay around like a stale dry baguette. Luckily I'm in good enough health now to at least type on my computer. So yay, new chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> So I am writing this as a small aside to another series I am working on as to not get myself caught up in a rut or get overly distracted. I've gotten back into this series via the musical, though I am and have been an avid fan of the original film and cartoon for years. I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while, and I haven't seen anyone write something along these lines (as of right now, don't hold me to this) so I thought what "Eh, what the hell?" I'll just write a small short-ish fic. 
> 
> So here was the first chapter of my small short-ish fic.


End file.
